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Chapter Text

—

There’s an unplaceable weight on his chest. Something simultaneously hot and cold, burning and freezing. A thousand thoughts rush through Taako’s head, but there’s nothing more to be said.

Something encloses around him. 

He doesn’t remember closing his eyes but, with one last breath, he forces them open.

But it’s still dark.

No, wait. There’s flashes of technicolor dancing through the glimmering shadows. Shadows that hold far too much light to simply be thus.

No, yes. He knows exactly where he is.

No. He knows exactly what’s happening.

A familiar comfort is quickly washed away. But why? There have been dozens of times exactly the same as this. Where an impossible nothingness seeps from a world impossibly bright.

Why, then, does Taako feel so undeniably sad?

A tear falls down his cheek when, finally, he realises why.

Someone’s shouting at him.

Or, is it at the darkness that threatens to overwhelm him?

He recognises it, of course he does. But, then, why can’t he find their face? Why can’t he remember their name?

It’s so cold.

His skin is burning.

Air refuses to fill his lungs.

Blood escapes from his still body.

Eyes fluttering closed once more, Taako clings to the half a dozen voices calling his name.

It’s fine, he thinks.

Like always, he’ll wake up to see them again.

wait

The filtering white in his vision flickers.

you can’t

A wash of aching pain fills Taako’s head.

not this time

there’s no one to save you this time

you have to live

please

A flicker. Soft, pastel colours fade into view. The collapse of white space leaves resounding, silent echoes through the air.

this is your last chance

use it well

i know you will

Someone’s shouting.

Something presses into his arm, into his side, into his chest.

But, it’s not that penetrative darkness. It’s not the ravaging neon anymore.

A kindness, a contentment. 

Taako lets himself get pulled away into that white world of colour.

One last chance.

—

Taako blinks.

There’s no white.

There’s no black either.

No, the too familiar light of a dozen candles illuminate the blue-shadowed, wooden surfaces of a small, but cozy and warm bar.

The thick smell of cider sits in the air, immediately filling Taako’s lungs. There is a cacophony of soft and loud voices; deep and high, coarse and soft. And, after a few seconds, Taako recognises a few of them.

“Hey, you still in there?”

Taako tries to focus. And, finally, he ends up face to face with a slightly flushed, bearded dwarf.

Hanging in the moment of silence, another pushes into view.

“You look like you’re going to pass out.” Dark, worried eyes stare into Taako’s.

After a second, Taako figures he should say something. So, voice still unsure and shaking just a little too much, “Yeah, dude, no problem here.”

Magnus doesn’t look convinced, but, with a sigh, he lets it go. 

Looking around, Taako attempts to orientate himself. 

The tavern is immediately familiar but, with its thick heat, its too pulsing light, Taako can only blink as everything fades out of focus again. 

Instead, Taako focuses on what’s in front of him. A slightly stick bar lies out, cluttered with empty and full glasses of various golden drinks. More than a few sit in front of the heartily drinking Merle. 

The barstool underneath Taako feels more uncertain than it should. The elf is too ready for it to collapse underneath him, like the rest of his body and the rest of the damned world did just moments ago.

Taking in a shuddering breath, Taako, finally, pushes up and away from the bar.

Two pairs of eyes snap to meet him. 

“You good?” Merle sends him a glance.

“Just getting some air.” Taako tries for a smile. He’s too out of it to see if it works or not.

“Uh, be careful,” Magnus offers. “You alright by yourself?”

“Oh ye of little faith.” Taako turns away, unable to subside the quivering of his lips. “I’ll be back in no time.”

—

Strangers.

Taako leans into the cool alleyway. A soft darkness lays shadows over his form in some semblance of privacy. 

They’re barely acquaintances. At least, for now.

A sigh pushes through Taako’s lungs. 

And, slowly, he tries to remember. 

There was a darkness. The Hunger. It bore through everything. They were too late. 

Too many hours, lost moments, of arguing, of indecision, of mistakes. 

Taako remembers each in their too easy passing.

They had no idea. 

Taako glances up at the sky. There’s a relief in its still, unmoving solitude. Each star shines as bright as ever, not shying in fear of the unshakable force coming to destroy them. 

Taako looks around. People pass, not stricken by fear or hashed by the anguish of seeing hundreds, thousands, be cut down around them. Taako almost forgot the feeling. 

In the end, it hadn’t lasted long at all.

Well, it hadn’t for Taako at least. 

But, now…

Taako takes another breath in. He tries, so hard and so alone, to quash the rising anxiety in his stomach, that threatens to pool itself into the material world in ways Taako is not ready to deal with right now. 

He’s alive.

He remembers. 

Somehow. Someway. From some impossibility, from some miracle, Taako is all the way back to where they started. Where it all went wrong.

And, this time, he will make things right. For everyone.

—

“Ugh, for ten gold pieces, this sure is a lot of work.” Merle twists from his spot on the wagon.

“I guess ‘the last job we’ll ever need to take’ is a follow up.” Magnus glances at him from the reins. “Chill, my man.” At his side, the tiny bulldog Ruby lets out an undistinguished snort.

“Well, I’m bored.” Merle shifts. “Two days is too long.”

“Well, we’ll be there by night, I reckon.” Magnus glances at the sky. The sun hangs neatly at its centre.

“Hey, Taako!” Turning to the back of the wagon, Merle addresses the unusually silent elf. “Doing anything interesting back there?!”

There’s a moment silence. In a curious worry, Magnus glances back, veering his eyes off of the road. “Hey, man-”

“Hah, you wish, Highchurch.” Taako, finally, looks up at his companions. “Nah, I’m at just as much of a loss.” His wand is quickly shoved back into his pocket.

“…Ugh!” Recovering quickly, Merle turns away. Then, after a few pregnant moments, “Hey, whassat?”

“What's what?” Magnus looks back to the road, past the oxen, and to the unceremonious forms lying across the road.

“Oh shit.” Merle stands, somewhat unsteadily, on the cart.

“I got it.” Magnus tugs at the reins and, surely, the cart rolls to a stop. 

Silently, Taako pushes himself off the cart and onto the road. The other two quickly follow his example.

And, before they can take another step, Taako calls out - with a gesture to the nearby thicket - “Look out!”

—

“So… uh, gerblins, huh?” Merle glances around at the fallen gerblins at their feet. 

With a sigh, Taako nudges one with their foot. He’s hesitant to speak up. 

“Hey, nice spell-ing, by the way,” Merle offers. “Didn’t know you had it in you, honestly.”

“Gee, thanks.” Taako rolls his eyes, but he can’t suppress a smile. Then, “Hey, they got anything good on them?”

“Good question!” Merle leans down to the one closest. 

“What do you think they were doing?” Magnus looks up and down the path.

“Nothing good,” Taako mutters. He grasps something. “Hey, jackpot!”

“Whassat!?” Merle hops over.

“Heh, real cash money, my man.” Taako pulls the bag open. And, as there had been the first time, there’s a large collection of

copper and silver coins.

Merle whistles. “Better than ten pieces apiece, right?”

“Barely.” From behind Taako, Magnus leans in.

“…What should we do with it?” Merle reaches out to the bag.

“It’s about twenty gold, I reckon.” Taako really doesn’t feel like recounting the coins. “We could just pool it though, for later?”

“I’ll meet you half way.” Merle crosses his arms. “Split it, like, five each, and then pool the rest.”

“Sure, whatever.” Taako tosses the dwarf the bag. “You’re doing the math, though.”

“As exciting as that was…” Magnus gestures around them again. In front of them, two horse corpses continue to bleed out on the ground, dead. “What do we do now?”

—

The indented dirt trail that Gundren’s dragged body leaves very easily leads the trio to the entrance to a wide, dark cave mouth.

With an immense sense of deja vu, Taako and his friends move through the mouth of the tunnel.

Taako attempts to remain undisturbed as he watches the backs of Magnus and Merle. They walk, the talk, exactly as they did back then. But, here and now, Taako can’t help but pick out the differences.

For one, Merle has both his eyes and both his arms. Which, really, is good on him. Taako silently resolves to stop both of those things from happening this time around. 

Both of them, but especially Magnus, seem so much younger than they did. The deep scar over Magnus’ eye stands out too easily amongst the smooth skin - yet unjoined with a scattering of fellows that tore into the fragile skin. They are so naïve, so undefined yet. 

With a soft sigh, Taako finds a smile once again. Some witty words climb towards his tongue as he jogs to meet them.

Time for some gerblin ass-kicking!

—

The cave is slimy and cold and just about as uncomfortable as the first time through. Taako adds in various pointers, various pieces of insight to, gently, push his friends in the right direction. There’s some bad jokes, worse innuendoes scattered within. But, as they did before, if not a little more smoothly, the trio pass into a large cavern.

Glancing through the door, Taako gestures for Magnus and Merle to approach. And, slowly, they do. 

Merle makes some unhappy sound about the collection of gerblins within. But, to Taako, their voices fade in favour of watching the figure upon the far-off stage. 

Barry fucking Bluejeans. 

Abandoning subtlety, Taako pokes Magnus in the arm. At the man’s indignant look, Taako gestures to Barry. Magnus’ eyes widen.

“We gotta help him.”

“No shit dude.” Taako moves to stand from his crouching position.

“What’s the plan?” Merle quickly asks.

“Uh…Smash gerblins first, think of a plan later?” Taako grins. With a flurry, he points his wand forward.

“Alright then.” With a sigh, Merle nods.

Taako’s mind blurs with a thousand spell opportunities. Finally, “Then, block your ears.”

“Huh?” Merle slaps his hands over his ears.

Magnus quickly follows suit. “Taako-”

“Shatter!”

A burst of painfully ringing sound surges with a burst of intensity about twenty feet away, right in the middle of the gerblins. 

It starts and, after a few seconds, stops suddenly.

Luckily, both Merle and Magnus got the idea. And, before the gerblins could recover, they’re already mid-fight.

—

“Yo, my dude.” Taako leans down to the restrained Barry. Looking him up and down, Taako is hit with surge of melancholy. A sad, but bittersweet feeling. “Not looking so hot, are you?”

Barry remains stubbornly unconscious. 

“Well, good talk.” Taako steps back, wand readying another spell when-

“Argh!” Merle pushes a gerblin off of him. “Taako! A little help!?”

Taako steps to the edge of the stage, wand quickly re-aiming. “I gotcha’ dude!” A shining magic missile bursts forth, hitting the nearest gerblin square in the chest and throwing them backwards.

“Jeez, who knew gerblins could be such a pain in the ass.” Merle frowns.

“Ow!” Magnus slams into the gerblin in front of him, but not after receiving a large gash over his chest.

“Woah, Magnus, you alright!?” Merle hops over quickly. 

As the two talk, Taako quickly scans the room, counting each of the fallen gerblins.

One, two, three, four… 

Taako frowns. And, quietly, “Hey, where’s-”

“Ah ha!”

With a sigh, Taako turns to see, just as ever, Yeemick holding Barry a little too close to a pit’s edge. 

“Woah, what?” Magnus jogs forward, but is hesitant to approach.

“If you don’t want blue-boy to loose the last bit of life he’s got in ‘im, then I suggest to shut up and listen.” Yeemick preens. Taako surpasses the urge to laugh. Undeterred, the gerblin continues. “Now, boys, how about we come to an agreement?”

—

“This sucks.” Merle mutters.

“No shit, dawg.” Taako frowns. Though, in the long run, it’s probably better this way than any else. Sure, Barry would be off kinda badly for a bit, but having Klarg’s help and not-help is definitely a good trade off. 

So, they walk. 

“Wonder what this Klarg guy did to piss of those gerblins so much.” Merle wonders.

“Not much, probably,” Magnus says. “I don’t think they’re the most complicated bunch.” He pauses thoughtfully and, after a moment, turns to Taako. “Hey, so, what’s the plan?”

“Why’re you askin’ me, homie?” Taako frowns, genuinely this time. “I’m the idiot of the group, remember? Also, aren’t you usually up for the no-plan squad anyway?”

“…Yeah, I guess.” Magnus turns away. There’s a too complex flash of emotion though his expression. A scattering of confusion, worry, and anxiousness.

Taako’s frown persists. 

Finally, “Think this is it?” Merle pauses at the sight of a doorway.

“Pro’lly.” Taako shrugs.

“Only one way to find out.” With a redetermined vigour, Magnus steps forward. A familiar shine fills his eyes and Taako smiles at their sight.

Softly, he says, “Magnus rushes in, I guess.”

—

Somehow, Taako manages to stop Magnus from throwing Klarg’s dog into the fire. Which, happily, makes the interaction go a lot smoother. Although, eventually, Taako does pull out ‘charm person’.

At that point, Taako lets himself take a back seat as, in a happy calm, Magnus and Merle convince Klarg to at least meet with the traitorous Yeemick. 

Taako finds himself fiddling with his wand, too ready to react to a danger that’s easily out of sight. Even with his variably wobbly memory of this instance, Taako is confident enough to know that, for now, they’re in the clear.

But, why, then, does he feel so nervous?

Klarg cuts down Yeemick just as easily as before. Taako almost sighs in relief. 

Watching everything unfold, Taako tries to discern if anything can and could be changed. It’s a small question to a much, much bigger picture that, yet, he can’t seem to get a focus on. 

So, he lets himself be quietly pulled along. For now, at least, he’ll keep his knowledge quiet. 

Someone has to keep an eye out for the two fools his calls friends after all. 

—

Stepping back out into the sunlight, Taako feels happily reenergised. Through all his experiences in dark and cavernous places alike, Taako can’t find himself every enjoying it. 

And, in that light, Barry Bluejeans is laid carefully against the rock-wall. 

“Think he’ll be alright?” Magnus frowns.

“Let the man do his magic.” Merle steps forward, healing at the ready. 

And, slowly and surely, Barry opens his eyes. 

“Woah.” He rubs at his eyes and then his head. “What happened?” He looks up at the three. “Who are you guys?”

“Good question with better answers,” Taako answers quickly. “But, maybe we should start walking before Klarg regains his senses.”

“Good plan.” Magnus offers Barry his hand. “We can talk while we walk.”

“Sounds alright to me,” Barry lets Magnus pull him up. “You really helped me out there.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Magnus smiles. But, it quickly drops away. “Actually, our next stop was gonna be, uh, Gundren, right?” He glances back at Merle and Taako.

“Klarg sold him off to someone,” Merle nods.

“Gundren…” Barry frowns.

“Did you see what happened?” Magnus asks.

“Y-Yeah, some of it,” Barry sighs. “Let’s see…”

—

They end up back at Phandalin. Taako is, honestly, a little cautious about leaving Barry to his own devices. But, with no useful memories and a pretty banged up body, Taako is content to let this story take the same course. At least for now. 

Sat around an inn table, Taako watches, unsurprised, as Merle’s dripping blood maps out their route to Wave Echo Cave. 

Then, left unaffected, Taako lets Barry head out into Phandalin. 

And, moments later, the trio head towards the den of the Black Spider. 

In retrospect, Taako figures it should be a plural. Seeing Magnus’ distain for the eight-legged, oversized arachnid should be just as entertaining all over again. 

As the cart rolls underneath them, Taako finds himself glancing back at the peaceful town of Phandalin. Somewhat uncharacteristically, Taako feels a well of determination rise up in him. He can’t let the same thing happen all over again.

—

Chapter Text

—

Wave Echo Cave is as irritatingly cold and damp as ever. Taako silently berates himself for not bringing a jacket, again.

But, walking through the barely lit tunnel, Taako is hit with a slow realisation.

The last passing hours, Taako had found himself too familiarly reaching down to his side for the Umbra staff he held there for so long. And, with that thought, he realises exactly what he’s walking into.

No, he’s not worried about gerblins, about Gundron, about the multiple Black Spiders. 

He’s worried that he won’t be able to keep himself together. Not when she’s in there waiting for him. 

The twisting path of the cave quickly widens into an opening. Eyes darting around, Taako spots the fallen form of Tharden Rockseeker. 

Taako watches Merle’s expression drop at the body of his cousin. Still, his eyes wander to the dwarf’s shoes. Though, this time, he keeps his hands to himself. 

He can’t seem to quell the insatiable nausea building inside of him. 

—

A few slime and glowing mushroom encounters later, Taako is almost completely distracted enough to forget what comes next. With the body of Nundro Rockseeker in their wake, the trio head cautiously into a large room floored by a vast, metal grate. 

A warm fuzz reaches Taako’s chest. He can’t believe that he’d forgotten. He’d completely forgotten that here, in this very room, is where they first meet-

The door upon a small platform is aggressively kicked open. 

Killian blinks for a second, registering the sight of the trio. Her crossbow is on them in a second. 

“Hey!” Magnus calls out easily. “I do the kicking around here!”

“Uh, easy there Magnus,” Merle says.

Killian frowns and mutters, mostly to herself, “Ah, shit.”

With a grin, Taako steps forward. With an over-exaggerated bow, he calls, “Hail and well met!”

Magnus snickers behind him.

“Ssh!” Killian hisses. Her crossbow waves slightly as he brows knit in confusion. “Sorry, just… I’m trying to figure this out.”

“What, you doin’ math up there?” Merle asks.

“Ugh, no.” Killian scowls “I just… what are you people doing here?” A pause. “I wonder, if should I kill you or- no, I don’t have enough time. Or, whether I should…” She dissolves into nervous muttering.

Taako’s smile doesn’t waver.

“Okay, here I go.” Killian surveys the trio again. “I’m, well, going to ask you a question and, uh, how you answer that will-”

“Is it a riddle?” Magnus asks. “I love riddles.”

“It… might be?” Killian does a sort of half-shrug. “Depending on where you’re at.” A sigh. “Are you here for the phoenix fire Gauntlet?”

“The… what now?” Merle sticks a finger in his ear, as if trying to clean it out.

“Uh, do you have, like, a hair stuck in your throat?” Magnus frowns.

“Oh, good.” Killian visibly relaxes.

Taako purses his lips. He hears her.

“Then, I wont, uh, shoot you with this.” She lowers her crossbow.

“Great.” Magnus relaxes too.

“But, instead…” Killian pulls a small, red button from her pocket. Taako’s stomach drops. Quickly, Killian disappears from the room, but not after making sure that, indeed, the grinder is ready to happily grind up the lower trio. 

With a huff, Taako pulls out his wand. At least, this time, maybe it’ll go quicker.

—

They find Killian, the Black Spider, and Gundren in the next chamber. Killian looks only a little surprised to see them - being mostly preoccupied with the drow wizard in front of her. 

“Oh, what a fantastic development! Ah! We have guests dear, how exciting!”

“He seems nice!” Magnus glances at his friends.

“Hello, hello. Welcome to my cave.”

Taako happily steps forward. “I just wanted to say, I’m so happy to meet someone else who talks normally.” He sends a grin to Merle and Magnus.

“I love your cadence, dear. Where are you from?” The infamous ‘Magic Brian’ grins a little more genuinely.

“New Elfington,” Taako answers. He glances over at Killian who’s giving him an odd look. He tries for a smile, but her frown persists.

“Uh, look, my man, we’re here for Mister Gundren so…” He gestures to the fallen dwarf.

“Oh, of course!” Brian laughs. “He has served his purpose. Uh, if you want, you can take him and go, sure!”

“Excellent. Great.” Taako glances over at Merle. With a nod, the dwarf runs over to his kin.

“Actually!” Brian calls out suddenly. Merle freezes in his tracks. “I will need just a little bit more of his blood, though.” Moving towards Gundren, Brian ends up with his back to Taako.

“How much more?” Magnus asks.

“Uh, about a pint? A couple pints?” He laughs again. “How much blood do dwarves have?”

“More than you’d think.” Magus frowns. His hand wanders to the hilt of his axe. 

Carefully and out of sight, Taako inches towards Killian. The woman watches him cautiously.

“Can you still throw a few punches?” Taako pulls out his wand.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Killian says. Her eyes dart up to Brian.

“Oh, save it.” Taako pushes his wand forward.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Killian shifts in her bonds.

“Perfectly.” Taako grins. Then, “Disintegrate.” 

—

The Black Spider, the real, actual, giant black spider, leaps towards Magnus. Stepping backwards, Brian overlooks the scene. It’s only after Merle jumps into to help that he realises that he’s miscounted his guests. 

The grip of Killian’s crossbow comes down heavily over his head. 

Magic Brian falls to the ground, unconscious.

Taako lets out a whistle. “Nice.”

“Taako!” Magnus shoves at the spider. 

“Here!” Killian re-aims, fronted with the point end. “Duck!”

—

“Well then.” Magnus cautiously steps around the fallen Black Spiders.

“Everyone still alive?” Merle looks around. His eyes focus on Killian.

With a sigh, she says, “Uh, I know we had a bad start, but we should…”

“…What?” Slowly, Gundren pushes himself to his feet. Dried blood is scattered over his clothes but, mostly, he appears fine.

“Gundren, you’re up!” Merle turns to him.

“We need to-” He glances around and sighs. “Alright, I guess I owe you an explanation first.” He gestures to the path leading out of the room. “Shall we go?”

—

A soft darkness fills every inch of every part of her being. 

But, slowly, something beings to pervade it for the first time in years.

“Hello?”

Soft, a bare whisper through her already muffled hearing. But, definitely, entirely, she recognises it. 

And, for the first time in ages, she pushes one word past her lips.

“Taako?”

—

“Hey, what do you have there?” Merle glances over at Taako. The elf is crouched down in the corner, body almost entirely covering the robed skeleton that lies there.

“You good?” Magnus begins to walk over.

“Y-Yeah!” Taako doesn’t look back. “Uh, all good over here.”

Magnus falters his step. “Okay… Uh, if you’re sure.” The fighter turns to Gundren, who’s carefully inspecting a large vault door.

“Hey, man, I actually, uh, have some questions for ‘ya.”

With about as much privacy as he can get, Taako cautiously grips at the handle of the Umbra staff. He can barely stand looking at the fallen bones, at the empty eyes and the motionless form. The red robe has had most of its colour fade away but, still, Taako wouldn’t mistake it for anything else. 

Careful to keep his voice low and movements small, Taako leans down to the staff. “Hello?” Only a stillness comes as a reply. “I’m, uh, going to need you to keep it quiet? Just… don’t freak out, okay?” Taako really doesn’t need all the fireworks that appeared last time. He’d prefer that his friends don’t find him crying over a decade old skeleton in a red robe. 

He glances back, to where his friends surround Gundren and, finally, reaches out and tugs the staff from the skeleton’s grip. It comes away easily and silently. Taako breathes a sigh of relief. 

“You still there?” The staff is clutched close to his chest. A final, tangible familiarity. 

After a few seconds of strikingly lonely silence, something radiates through Taako’s hands. A warmth. A pulse. A sign.

“H-Hey, Lulu.” Taako tries to blink away the heavy tears in his eyes. “Don’t worry, you- I-” He sucks in a deep breath. “It’s going to be okay. I’ll get you out of there soon enough.” Taako looks back, the vault door, to Gundren. “There’s just a few things we need to take care of first.”

—

Throat dry and chest swollen, Taako slowly makes his way back to his friends. Seeing him approach, Magnus gives him a glance.

“You good?” His eyes catch the staff in his hands. “Yo, where’d you get that?”

“…Corpse.” Taako smiles, still holding it tight. “You’d be surprised what you’ll find if you just take the time to look.”

“If by ‘look’ you mean go corpse looting, then I’m fine.” Magnus grins and turns back to Gundren.

“Okay, look.” Gundren sighs. “I-”

“Hold up.” Merle holds up his hand and, quickly says, “I cast Zone of Truth.”

“Al-Alright.” Gundren frowns. “Should I- Can I go now?”

“Go ahead.” Merle nods.

“Right, okay.” Gundren takes a deep breath. “Anyway, my father-”

“My uncle,” Merle adds.

“Yes, alright. Well, he was in charge of security,” Gundren explains. “And, when the orc marauders came to, uh, destroy Phandalin and seek out the Wave Echo Cave, he managed to - very heroically - lock way all of the magical items, magical trinkets, magical weapons such in this mine’s personal vault.” He gestures behind him to the door.
Taako feels the Umbra staff pulse again at his words. Out of the side of his mouth, Taako mutters, “Yeah, I know.” The pulsing slowly subsides as Gundren continues.

“Unfortunately, in order to do for, he also had to… lock himself in.” He frowns. “So, sadly, he sacrificed himself.” There’s an awkward pause.

“How long ago was this?” Merle wonders. He glances at the door and then around the room.

“A- About a decade ago,” Gundren says. “So, uh, this won’t be a real happy reunion.”

“…Can dwarves eat gold to stay alive?” Magnus whispers.

Taako snorts. He’s pretty sure the umbrella does too. “Dude.”

“…Yeah, dumb question.” 

“Fortunately,” Gundren says, unperturbed to the happy whispering. “This door is attuned to Rockseeker blood, um, so, uh, I can open it up and we can have ourselves a field day with the treasures and weapons and everything within.” Slowly, Gundren removes his hand from the door - one Taako hadn’t seen him place - and leaves with it a small, bloody handprint. 

The door swings open. 

—

Chapter Text

—

“I…I don’t understand.” Gundren stares, aghast, at the black glass covering every surface. His eyes focus, finally, on the body - burnt away to charcoal - and the silver gauntlet in its hand. 

“This- This isn’t right.” Gundren starts to make his way forward.

The Umbra staff shudders. 

“I got it.” Taako quickly jogs forward, overtaking Gundren to inspect the body.

“That’s my pops.” Behind him, Gundren just stares. “That’s my dad.”

“What the hell happened?” Still walking, Magnus follows just after Merle. “I don’t see any treasure.”

“Guys!” Pushing somewhat roughly past them, Killian comes forward. She stares at the Gauntlet with a mix of horror and worry.

“Girl, what’s up?” Taako leans back, letting Killian see the Gauntlet in front of him.

“Every step away.” Killian order, gesturing anxiously. “This thing, this is indescribably dangerous! You need to get away from it, please!”

“I ain’t listening to some filthy orc.” Gundren growls, stepping, instead, closer to the Gauntlet. Luckily, Taako is there to intercept him.

“Hey, cheese it with the racism, Gundro.” Magnus frowns, not moving from his spot.

“Don’t be an ‘orc-ist’!” Merle adds.

“…Did you just call me ‘filthy’ dude?” Killian turns to him with a snarl.

“Hey, um, how about we calm down. Let’s, um, take two steps back real quick,” Magnus offers.

“This Gauntlet-” Gundren gestures. “Everything in this vault in my birthright. There’s no way I’m giving this thing up to you.”

“Don’t you test me.” Killian’s hands grip tighter on her crossbow. “Don’t. I’ve had a ready long day.”

“Hey, boys.” Gundren glances around to the other. “This whole thing, I’ll pay you whatever, but this is one last job. I need you to take her out.”

Magnus opens his mouth but Taako beats him to it. “Okay, how about, fucking no.” Taako moves, placing himself strategically in front of the Gauntlet. Not daring to look away from the dwarf, Taako addresses Killian. “You know what this thing is right?”

“I…” Killian stumbles. “Yes.” Looking at Magnus and Merle, “This thing, It’ll do a lot worse than just burning up a cave. It could- Whole cities can and will burn if anyone tries to use it.”

“It…” Magnus casts a worried glance to Merle and then to Taako. “…Yeah, alright.” He crosses his arms and faces Gundren. “This smells way too fishy to me.”

“You damn fools!” Gundren makes a break for the Gauntlet. He slams into Taako, almost knocking the elf over. But, as the dwarf’s hands reach forward, Taako does the only thing he can. 

“No!” Killian calls out, but Taako still grasps the Gauntlet with both his hands. He pulls it out of Gundren’s reach. 

The pale metal burns ferociously against his hands. “Shit!” Taako still doesn’t let go. Instead, he shifts, keeping it in his left hand while his right grasps at the Umbra staff. 

Ready and pulsing, the staff points easily and steadily at Gundren who, finally, falters. 

“Taako!” Magnus steps forward, watching the Gauntlet burn away at his hands. “Put that thing down!”

“Here!” Killian jumps forward, tackling Gundren to the ground.

“Argh!” Taako falls backwards, as, finally, the Gauntlet hits the ground.

“Taako!” Again, Magnus calls. He catches the elf, careful not to touch his now bleeding palms.

“Shit, dude.” Merle hurries over.

“It’s fine.” Taako hisses, ignoring the stinging pain. Instead, he turns to the Gauntlet, now lying prone.

“…What do we do?” Magnus glances over at Killian, who’s still wrestling with Gundren.

“I have an idea.” Taako jogs past them, moving out of the vault.

“Hey, wait!” Merle calls out, but he’s already gone. 

Taako walks back over to Lup’s body. With sigh, he leans down. At his side the Umbra staff hums.

“Sorry,” Taako reaches out to the faded red robe. “We’ll be needing this.”

Contentedly, the staff doesn’t contend. 

“Hey, guys!” Taako comes back to see Gundren just barely escaping Killian’s hold. 

With an unrefined skid, Taako launches himself across the obsidian floor. Robe in hand, he throws it over the Gauntlet, hiding it from view and from Gundren’s grasp. 

“No!” Gundren tries to pull the fabric away but, also beside it, Merle scoops it up. Carefully, he keeps the robe between the metal and his hands and wraps the Gauntlet up securely. 

“Hah!” Behind them, Killian jumps Gundren again. 

Following the movement Magnus reaches forward, axe hilt forward. Gundren is knocked out after two hits. 

“…Well shit.” Merle glances down at the package in his hands. Awkwardly, he holds it away from himself. “I, uh, do I have to carry it?”

“Probably.” Taako pushes himself off of the ground. The sheer fabric of his pants has torn at the knees. The Umbra staff hums happily.

“…What now?” Magnus turns to Killian, who’s still breathing deeply.

“You want this?” Merle holds it out to her.

“I…” Killian’s eyes flash, for a second, with a fiery light. Slowly, she reaches out towards it.

Sensing danger, Taako steps forward, “Hey.”

“…What?” Killian blinks, focusing on him. “Wait.” She scowls, stepping back from Merle. “You… No- You keep it, for now.” She shakes her head. “Why did I…”

“You’re not going crazy too, are you?” Merle sends Gundren another glance.

“I… maybe.” She sighs deeply. “Let’s just- get the fuck out of this cave, okay?”

“Done deal,” Magnus happily agrees. 

—

As they walk out of the winding cave, Taako sends Lup’s body one last glance. The bones have already dissolved into ash. 

No, it doesn’t matter. 

Taako keeps his hand wrapped in the Umbra staff’s fabric. Body or no body, they don’t have to be apart any more. 

—

Lup listens intently to every word, trying to make sense of everything bright and loud around her - around them.

Taako is different, she’s found. He’s not quite the brother she left behind. But, what she’s also found, is that it doesn’t matter. Because he’s here. They both are. 

Lup listens intently for, at least for now, her vision provides little insight. 

She listens as the Gauntlet is saved from taking any more lives. As an orc woman leads the way for three of her closest friends, her family. But, where only one knows anything.

And therein lies the conundrum. 

Why does he remember?

Lup figures that, once they’re alone, she’ll have the time to ask. He promised to get her out after all. Then, they’ll have all the time in the world. 

—

“That was a disaster avoided, I’d say.” Finally, as they step out into the sunlight, Magnus breaks the silence.

“Definitely,” Killian quickly agrees. She shifts her grip on Gundren’s still unconscious form as he’s slung over her shoulder. Then, “That Gauntlet it really is too dangerous.”

“Noted.” Magnus eyes the red wrap in Merle’s arms cautiously.

“It- It can control people, makes them want it, need it.” She pauses before turning to the three of them. “Why didn’t it work on you?”

“Maybe we’re just too dumb?” Taako quickly offers.

“Or we don’t really give a fuck for that kind of stuff.” Merle holds the Gauntlet gingerly. “I don’t need some flaming, burning, hand-thing thank you very much.”

“…If you say so.” Killian’s frown doesn’t fade. 

—

They manage to head back to town. The four of them sit up top their trusty cart behind the pair of tired oxen at the front. Before getting on, Magnus offers them a word of condolences. 

“What’s the plan when we get back to Phandalin?” Magnus asks.

“We should check in with Barry.” Taako offers.

“What about him?” Merle glances over at Gundren, who’s been deposited alongside the rest of them.

“Good question.” Taako frowns. “Maybe if, uh, he ain’t anywhere near that Gauntlet, he’ll go back to normal?”

“Hopefully.” Merle still looks upset.

“It’s the thrall of it,” Killian says. “You’re right. Once they’re separated, it should wear off.”

“Good. Great.” Merle grips the Gauntlet a little tighter. “Where does this thing go, then?”

“That’s…” Killian hesitates. “Actually, it’s a bit of a long story that isn’t best shared on top of a wagon.”

“How about with a few drinks?” Merle suggests. “God, I need it.”

“I second that,” Taako says.

“Alright, fine.” Killian sighs. She doesn’t look away from the Gauntlet. “Just… keep that safe.”

—

“Hey, Barry BJ!” Magnus slides down onto the barstool next to the man.

Barry looks up at him with surprise. “Magnus? Where’s Gundren?”

“Right here.” Killian appears beside them, Gundren repositioned in her arms. “You want ‘im?”

“Uh…” Barry glances around, spotting Taako and Merle entering behind her. “Sure?”

“Here.” Killian drops Gundren unceremoniously onto the ground.

“What happened?” Barry picks at his plate of chicken wings.

“Long story short-” Merle holds up the Gauntlet, still covered. “Gundren went kind of nuts thanks to this weird magical thing so we’re getting it real far from him.”

“We shouldn’t draw this out for longer than we need to,” Killian quickly says. “We should get going?”

“Going… where?” Magnus asks. He steals one of Barry’s wings.

“It’s…” Killian shakes his head. “I can't say.”

“Can’t or won’t?” Merle asks.

“Can’t.” Killian stresses. “You guys need to come with me, though.” She gestures to the Gauntlet. “You’re the only ones who aren’t affected by that thing.”

“Uh, sure okay.” Magnus agrees.

“Wait, really?” Merle frowns. “That quickly?”

“She’s right, though,” Magnus says. “That thing is, like, weird and powerful.”

“Is there anything you can tell us?” Taako asks. “Y’know something nonspecific or whatnot?”

“Um… sort of.” With a sigh, Killian pulls up the chair next to Magnus. Barry looks on curiously.

“Well, I work for an… organisation that…” She points at the Gauntlet again. “Takes… care? Of this like this.”

“There’s other ones?” Magnus frowns.

“Many.” Killian nods. “They’re dangerous and will take control of anyone who comes close.” A pause. “Well, almost anyone.”

—

Taako somewhat tunes out Killian’s sort-of explanation. She struggles to get the words right but, by the end of it, Merle’s been convinced.

“Yeah, okay.” Merle sighs. “Let’s just, like, go or whatever.”

“Great. Good.” Killian gets back up.

“We’ll, uh, see you around, or something.” Magnus turns to Barry.

“Yeah, maybe.” He nods. “Good luck with, whatever.”

“Cool.” Magnus steps towards the door. Killian and Merle follow them.

In a quick moment, Taako turns to Barry.

“Hey, Bluejeans?”

“Hm?” He looks up at Taako. “Uh, Taako, right?”

“That’s it, man.” The Umbra staff hums. “Just uh, hold on.” Taako somehow finds a small piece of paper tucked in to a bag. After a little more digging, he pulls out a shitty-charcoal pencil. He scribbles a short note on the paper and holds it out to Barry. “Take this.”

“Uh… sure?” Barry takes the note. “Can I- Should I read it?”

“If you want, homie,” Taako smiles. “Just, uh, you’ll need that sooner or later. Don’t lose it and don’t forget about it.”

“Alright…?” Barry shrugs and tucks it into one of his jeans’ pocket.

“I’ll see you soon, dude.” Taako grins, stepping back.

“If you say so.” In a weird moment of clarity, Barry nods determinedly.

“Bye!” Taako skips out the door, leaving only the soft gap his presence leaves behind. 

Glancing down at the still unconscious Gundren, Barry sighs. Slowly, he reaches down to his pocket and pulls out the note. He unfolds the piece of paper. There’s a shitty doodle of an umbrella, which Barry recognises as the one Taako was carrying. But, just below it, is a short, cryptic phrase. 

Come and get her. 

—

“Here.” Killian leads the trio outside of the city. They end up on a soft, grassy hill with a single, picturesque tree at its top.

“Here?” Magnus looks around. Behind them, the town of Phandalin sits as peacefully as ever.

“Okay, here goes.” Killian pulls up the sleeve on her left arm and, under the cloth, lies a shiny metal bracer. She taps at the rune engraved there, ignoring Magnus and Merle’s inquisitive looks.

“This isn’t gonna, like, kill us or something, right?” Merle looks around nervously.

“Not unless you do something irrevocably stupid,” Killian says. Then, “Here it is.”

“Hm?”

Taako stares skyward. And, after a few seconds, a shiny, glass orb floats into view.

“What the fuck-” Merle squints his eyes.

“That’s our ride.” Killian grins, stepping forward to meet it.

“It doesn’t look very safe.” Magnus frowns.

“It’s fine.” Killian gestures for them to follow. Behind her, the orb floats gently to the ground. “Now hurry up.”

“Yes ma’am.” Taako skips forward, a happy adrenaline rushing through him.

“Could be fun.” Merle follows after him.

“…Yeah, alright.” Magnus, still not entirely convinced, steps awkwardly into the orb. He takes a seat next to Taako and, with a loud sigh, buckles himself in. 

—

Chapter Text

—

Taako watches the not-moon grow closer and closer. 

He examines the wide open spaces beyond the buildings of the bureau. Glancing down a the Umbra staff, he resists the urge to speak out again. The time has yet to come. 

Both Magnus and Merle are openly uncomfortable at the world passes by beneath them. Taako understands where they’re coming from. The first time, well, he had the same feeling. But, now, all Taako sees is his home. A place where he made and, eventually, lost friends. Where there lived and fought and where he died. 

Taako tears his eyes away. The Umbra staff hums, as if sensing his thoughts. Taako offers a smile, even though he’s sure Lup can’t quite see him yet.

Well, there’ll be plenty of time for that later. 

—

“Alright, please don’t go anywhere.” Killian steps out of the bubble immediately. She gives the trio of boys a stern look. “Just- I need to go get someone.”

“Hey, Killian?” A little ways away, Avi gives her a wave. “Who’re these guys?”

“They’re here to be inoculated.” Killian jogs past her. “Make sure they don’t wander off, okay?”

“Uh, sure.” Avi nods and watches her go. Once she’s out of sight, he turns to the bubble. “Hey, I’m Avi.”

“Merle Highchurch.” Merle skips forward, Gauntlet still in hand.

“Didn’t Killian say to be careful with that?” Magnus jogs after him. “About it brainwashing people or whatever?”

“Step it back, dawg.” Taako approaches casually. He grins at Avi. “Avi, right?”

“Uh, yeah.” Avi nods, eyeing Merle’s package cautiously. “Whatcha’ got there?”

“Secret magic thing,” Merle says.

“I’m, uh, Magnus by the way,” Magnus says. “Magnus Burnsides.”

“Nice to meet you.” Avi looks at Taako expectantly.

“Taako.” Taako extends his hand. “Enchantée.”

“Is there a reason I’m so dizzy?” Merle raises his hand.

“It’s, yeah, that’s normal,” Avi says. “You might wanna sit down.”

“Done and done.” Merle sinks to the floor.

“Hey, here.” Avi pulls a small flask from his belt and holds it out.

“Whassat?” Merle takes it anyway.

“Brandy.” Avi grins.

“I like your style.” Merle takes a swig.

—

“Hey.” Killian returns after a few minutes. She jogs over to see all four of them sitting on the ground. “Uh, guys?”

“Right, right.” Merle gets up first.

“Going downstairs?” Avi asks, not moving.

“Yeah.” Killian gestures for them to follow. “Come on.”

“Alright.” Magnus pushes himself up and, after a moment of deliberation, Taako does to. 

“What exactly is this place?” Magnus goes to walk beside Killian. “We’re not really on the moon, right?”

“No, of course not.” Killian shakes her head.

“Yeah, man, I don’t think we could breath up there.” Merle glances up at the sky. The wide glass of the overarching dome creates an almost invisible barrier between them and the vast space around them.

“Don’t worry about suffocating or the like,” Killian says. “This whole place is safe.”

“So, where are we going?” Magnus asks.

“You’ll see.” Killian smiles, just slightly. “Once you’re inoculated, then I can explain everything.”

“O-kay…” 

—

Watching his friends remember some of their past is a strange experience. The Voidfish hums happily as Merle and Magnus stand still for a solid fifteen seconds, eyes flashing and widening.

A little cautiously, Taako also drinks from the small vial handed to him. And, luckily, nothing changes. With a sigh of relief, Taako goes back to surveying his friends. 

“Holy shit.” Merle is the first. He turns to Magnus and Taako. “Holy fucking-”

“Okay, okay, okay.” Magnus takes deep breaths. “What the fuck?” He turns to Johann, who watches on nonplussed. “It’s… I remember everything.”

Taako’s shoulders sag. Not quite yet.

“Yeah, you got it.” Johann just nods.

“I… what?” Magnus frowns. He looks over at Taako, as if for validation.

“Yeah, that’s… real fucked up man.” Taako presses his lips into tight frown. Luckily, Taako prides himself on his acting skills and Magnus quickly moves on.

“You should go back upstairs,” Johann says. “I, uh, am not the best at explaining things.”

—

A buff guard ferries the trio in the grandest dome there is. 

Stepping into the room, Taako is hit with a flurry of different emotions. Shit, he’s probably not ready to see Lucretia again so soon. They didn’t really leave on the best terms. 

But, as Taako spots the pristinely dressed woman at the other end of the room, he mostly feels relieved. 

A soft warmth almost completely overwhelms the tired irritation that rises at the sight of her. Taako’s chest tightens and he’s sure that at least some of it shows on his face. 

The Umbra staff hums at his side, for just a second, before falling still. 

As the three step forward, finally, Lucretia addresses them. This time, Taako watches the slight widening of her eyes, the flashes of emotion across her face, and how she lingers her focus on them for a little too long. He notices the deep breath she takes, hand gripping too tightly at her staff when she finally says, “Welcome, the three of you, to the Bureau of Balance.” She smiles, the tense lines of her expression slowly fading. “It’s a pleasure to have you. I’ve heard a lot of great things about your performance from Killian.” A pause. “Before we go any further I’m going to need you to hand over the Gauntlet so we can destroy it promptly.”

“Really?” Magnus frowns.

Merle doesn’t let the Gauntlet go. 

Lucretia spots the red robe in Merle’s grip and it’s impossible to miss how her breath catches in her chest.

“Where… did you get that?”

“Get this?” Merle pinches at the red fabric. “Uh, Taako found it.”

Lucretia’s eyes burn into him. “Taako?” Her voice wavers, just a little.

“There was a body,” Taako says, slowly, carefully. “Where we found the Gauntlet. Right outside the vault.” He gestures to it. “And it was wearing that.” Taako watches Lucretia’s expression threaten to shatter. “…Figured it could be useful.”

“I…” Lucretia swallows, slowly regaining her bearings. “Right, I see.” She glances to her side. “Davenport!?”

—

The trio swiftly exit the dome, albeit now unconscious, leaving Lucretia and Davenport alone. Trapped in the moment, it takes Lucretia just a little to long to break her paralysis. 

“That will be all.” She doesn’t dare look at Davenport. “I… I’m heading to my office.”

The Gauntlet had been carefully removed from the aged robe before it was taken away. Currently, the red fabric lies peacefully on the steps just in front of her. 

The colour fills her vision too deeply and too quickly. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Lucretia watches Davenport leave. And, finally, she falls apart. 

—

“Maybe this wasn’t the best idea.” Merle limps out of the test chamber.

“Hey, at least the pay is good,” Taako says snidely.

“Mmph.” Magnus cracks his knuckles. “Does everyone have to do this?”

“Maybe they just hate us,” Merle says. Then, “Hey, it’s the director lady!” 

“Congratulations.” She smiles. Some of it is real, some of it is forced. “Welcome to the Bureau of Balance.”

“I guess it’s too late to turn back now.” Magnus shrugs.

“Mm.” Lucretia gestures for Davenport to come forward. Three arm bracers are presented to each of them. 

Taako quickly presses it onto his left arm. It’s a familiar weight he didn’t think he’d be missing. He watches the clasp disappear, letting the smooth silver pass by undeterred.

Beside him, Taako watches Merle and Magnus do the same, watching as the bracer sticks permanently.

With a grin, Taako says, “I think that was the point of no return.”

“No kidding.” Magnus gives the bracer and experimental tug. It stubbornly remains. “So…” He turns back to Lucretia. “What now?”

—

Lucretia lets out a sigh as, again, Magnus, Merle and Taako make their out of sight. 

As they go, as she retakes her seat, they leave various voices in their wake.

“Seeya, Miss Director!”

“Yeah, I guess we’ll see you around?”

“‘Till next time, Lucy.” 

Just over a minute later, Lucretia’s staff goes clattering to the floor. Like a jolt of electricity running through her, her head snaps up back to the room - now empty. Her breath swells as her mind races to discern memory from reality.

When was the last time anyone called her Lucy?

It must've been her imagination.

—

The Fantasy Gashapon machine drops out Magnus’ iconic Railsplitter in its oddly-shaped capsule. 

Leon explains what an Umbra staff is to Taako, even though the really didn’t ask. 

Merle dons a shiny, elaborate earring that he wears with pride. Taako looks forward to the half a dozen others that will join it in the coming years. 

Eventually, the trio wander into the splendid, angular world of Fantasy Costco. 

Immediately, appropriate amounts of money trade hands and each of the three disappear amongst the aisles. 

Taako wanders without any one destination in mind. From the measly 600 gold pieces in his possession, he’s far off from regaining some of his best items. 

Although, this time, he’ll be far more strategic in his purposes. 

“Let’s see…” Taako ends up in some nonspecific aisle and reaches down to grip the Umbra staff. “You want anything, sis?” 

The staff hums noncommittally. 

“Great.” Taako looks around. Then, “Well, I do have a few problems that need some quick solutions.” Taako glances down at the staff. “…Jeez, what am I going to do with you?” 

The staff pulses somewhat aggressively.

“I mean it literally.” Taako huffs. “I don’t think the guys would be so easy to accept the random appearance of my lich-twin.” He sighs. “Hm…” 

Taako keeps walking. He rolls a gold piece over his fingers. 

After another minute, he hears Magnus’ voice. “Taako? Where’d you run off to, bud?”

“Right here!” Taako follows the voice through and out of his current aisle. “Find anything you need, bud?”

“Look!” Magnus holds out three Stones of Farspeech. “In case we ever get separated, see?”

“Good call.” Taako smiles.

“And I got this thing too!” Magnus proudly holds up the Phantom Fist.

“I guess they really do have everything.”

“How about you?” Magnus lowers his spoils. “Can’t find anything?”

“Just… give me a few more minutes.” Taako shrugs.

“If you’re sure.” Magnus nods. “I think Merle’s looking at some weird bibles or whatever.”

—

“Guess I’m going default.” Taako bounces the Ring of Pointing in his hand. “Not really useful, but could be fun, huh?” 

The Umbra staff hums. 

“Well, I think that’s it.” Taako wanders over to the checkout. 

“Did you find everything you needed?” The bored looking cashier doesn’t even look up at Taako.

Taako doesn’t procure an answer, instead dropping his small collection of items on the counter. 

Somewhat lazily, the cashier scans them in. 

The Ring of Pointing.

The Unlimited Pasta Pass.

Two Stones of Farspeech.

At the last one, the cashier hesitates and says, “Your big friend already got those.”

“Noted,” Taako says and nothing else.

“Alright then.” The cashier shrugs and finishes scanning. 

—

It takes far longer than Taako would like to get some real privacy. You’d think it’d be easier to come by - being on the fucking moon and all. But, as Taako has found, it’s harder than you’d think to get some good ol’ alone time. 

Though, Taako’s never really alone anyways. 

So, a few days after they first arrive, Taako finds himself, finally, alone in some stashed away training room. 

Killian had helped them get around in the last almost-week, pointing out places to eat, places to chill, and places to train. 

Most of the training rooms are communal but, now, Taako is all alone. 

Seconds after walking into the blissfully empty room, Taako quickly cast a few spells at the door to keep anyone from interrupting him. 

Luckily, Taako had seen most of the Bureau’s employees heading to dinner just a few minutes ago, so Taako figures that he’s in the clear.

“…Alright.” In one easy movement, Taako pulls the Umbra staff from his side. “Try to, uh, keep it subtle, okay?” 

The umbrella shatters against his thigh. 

—

Chapter Text

—

Lup stands as Taako’s voice returns. 

“…Alright.” 

An anxious, but excitable fire burns through her chest. Finally.

“Try to, uh, keep it subtle, okay?”

Lup grins but, still, trying to calm her breathing, her erratic heart. 

A moment of stillness passes. 

Then, everything falls away. 

Lup feels as if the gravity in her confined world suddenly turned off and then, with a thousand flashes of light, the dark curtains that trapped her like prison bars begin to tear and burn away. 

Light, pure, shining, amazing light pours past that darkness, filling Lup with just as bright of a complete and utter happiness. 

And then, she wakes up.

—

The fire and light and smoke finally fade. 

Taako sits up from where the blast and thrown him down.

“So much for keepin’ it chill.” But, he can’t keep the exuberant grin off of his face. He feels so young, so much like those thousands of memories lost and found. 

Because, there as the world slowly relaxes around them - dressed in a red robe that does little to hide the amazingly familiar face underneath it - is Lup.

“Taako!” She moves first, flying towards him.

Taako barely gets to his feet before he’s thrown back off of them. Lup is weirdly solid for a lich, which is a happy surprise.

“Lup!” Taako pushes his back off of the ground to finally see his sister.

“You’re- I’m-” She grips his shirt, pulling him in close. Taako hears the sound of her crying as she presses into his shoulder.

“Back together again.” Taako grins into the red fabric. “Like we promised we’d always be, right?”

“R-Right.” Lup pulls away, a bright smile still on her face.

“Hey, what happened to your swagger, girl?” Taako grins. He aims a punch at her shoulder. It passes right through. “Jee, that’s gonna get annoying.”

“Deal with it, Koko.” Lup punches this time. It connects painfully on Taako’s arm.

“Ow.” Taako mocks offence.

“Don’t be a baby.” Lup floats backwards. She ends up upright again. In the harsh light of the training room, Taako can see the skeletal form underneath her faux-skin.

“Rude.” His smile returns. 

“Well, my bro.” Lup keeps an even height with Taako even as he sinks to the ground. “I have many, many questions.”

“Fair enough.” Taako crosses his legs in front of him. Lup does her best to do the same. “Well, it’s a long story, like, super long.” A pause. “But, I think you already remember most of it.”

“That’s one of my questions.” Lup gives Taako an odd look. “Why do you remember everything.”

“Everything… and a bit, actually.” Taako leans back on his hands. “Hm… let’s see…”

—

“…Shit, alright.” Lup presses her chin into her palm. “What’s the plan, then?”

“Lay low until I don’t have to anymore?” Taako shrugs, genuinely at a loss. “Uh, my plan didn’t go much further than about right now, actually.”

“Well, that’s why you’ve got me.” Lup points her thumb at herself. “Whatever comes next, we’ll do it together.”

“What, you’ll float around two feet behind me 24/7?” Taako raises an eyebrow.

“If that’s what it takes.” Lup crosses her arms.

“Well for a while…” Taako wracks his brain. Surely there must be something…

Taako lets out a gasp. 

“What?” Lup leans in.

“I’ve got an idea.” Taako’s grin turns mischievous. “That is, if you’re up from some lawbreaking?”

“Done.” Lup grins. “What’re we doing?”

“Just some simple theft.” Taako gets to his feet. “Of a certain Fantasy Costco.”

—

Lup hovers just behind Taako, assured to stay entirely invisible.

“I’ll distract him.” Taako steps forward. For a split second, Lup’s form flickers into view. She gives him a thumbs up. 

“Hail and well met!” Taako steps out into the Costco. The jingle plays out over him.

“Oh, it’s you.” The cashier glances up to look at him. “Uh, what can I do for you?”

“Great question.” Taako saunters over. “Actually, I was reading through a catalogue the other day and wondered if you could help me locate something.”

“Uh, yeah, alright.” The cashier steps around the counter. “What did you need?” 

—

Lup wanders through the aisles. As much as she loves her brother, she does prefer actually moving around herself.

So, careful not a disturb anything as she goes, she follows Taako’s mental instructions. 

And eventually, she finds exactly what she’s looking for.

—

“Run!” Taako bolts away from the Fantasy Costco. He hears phantom laughter as a small something drops into Taako’s bag. 

With a grin, he veers towards the Quad. 

Taako collapses on the too-green grass, breathing heavily. Beside him, still invisible, Lup says, “Aw, boo, they didn’t even chase after us.”

“I don’t think they noticed.” Taako rolls over onto his stomach. “We’ll just have to go after some bigger, badder foes, won’t we?”

“Definitely.” 

Taako shoves his hand into his bag and, carefully, pulls out the Pocket Spa.

“What is it anyway?” Taako feels Lup lean over his shoulder.

“Great question.” Taako pulls the opening up wide. “Get in.”

—

“Taako!” Magnus waves Taako down as he makes his way out of the quad.

“Yo.” Taako stops once he sees him.

“Haven’t seen you lately.” Magnus looks Taako up and down. “Why are you… smokey?”

“Hm?” Taako glances at himself. His sleeves and the hem of his shirt are singed black. “I was trying out some spell-casting.” He grins. “Got a little out of hand.”

“Heh, looks like it.” Magnus nods. “You heading back to the room?”

“Got nothing better to do.” Taako shrugs.

“We’ll go together, then.” Magnus grins. “Merle ran off somewhere, so I’ve been thoroughly ditched.”

“Well, consider yourself un-ditched,” Taako says. “Uh, de-ditched?”

“I’m pretty sure neither of them are real words.” Magnus laughs. After a moment, “Woah, what happened?”

“What?” Taako stops walking.

“That.” Magnus points to Taako’s side. The Umbra staff hangs there, snapped uncleanly in two.

“Oh, right.” Taako frowns. “Yeah, bad luck, I guess.”

“Yeah?” Magnus matches his expression. “That sucks, you really liked that thing.”

“I’ve only had it a few days,” Taako dismisses.

“You…” Magnus furrows his brows, an action Taako doesn’t entirely miss. But, the man recovers promptly. “Yeah, I guess.” He shrugs.

“Come on.” Taako starts walking again. “I don’t know about you, but I am beat.”

—

It’s about the middle of the night when Lup’s soft voice rouses Taako from his meditation.

“Koko!” It’s a harsh whisper straight from Taako’s bag.

“Hm?” Taako rolls over from his spot on the bed. He shoves his hand into the bag and, with a little rummaging, pulls out the pocket spa. “What is it?”

“I never should have doubted ya.” Lup laughs. “Man, this place is great.”

Taako laughs, “Never doubt me, Lulu.” A pause. “Actually, hold that thought.” Taako leans back down to the small chest of drawers he calls his own. Three matching ones sit in various parts of the room, all claimed by his roommates. 

Taako pulls open the bottom drawer and retrieves one of his Stones of Farspeech. Under it is a small, written note with Taako’s frequency on it. Both are dropped into the spa.

“Huh?” After a second Lup speaks up. “Oh, good thinking bro.”

“Ring a ding ding.” Taako lies back down. “I mean, you don’t have to, like, stay in there forever, by the way.”

“Whatcha’ mean?” Lup asks.

“I’m pretty sure you don’t need to be stuck in another magical household item.” Taako laughs. “So, that’s just in case we get separated.”

There a short pause before, “Actually, that’s be nice.”

“You do you, girl.” Taako says. “Just… uh, be careful or whatever.”

The pocket spa shifts, the opening rippling before not moving at all. Lup’s lich form flashes in the air. 

“Since when am I not careful?” She grins at him.

Taako raises an eyebrow.

“On second thought, don’t answer that.” She turns, looking around the room for a second before disappearing into a shy nothingness. 

“See you soon.” Taako rolls back over, closing his eyes. He keeps his Stone of Farspeech close to his chest. 

—

Exactly eight days later, Taako wanders back to their shared dorm room in the early afternoon. He finds it empty, with Magnus, Merle and Robbie off to their own devices.

What he does find is something left neatly on his bed. 

“Well, what do you know.” Taako’s mouth splits into a grin. 

Behind him, a voice says, “You seemed kinda beat up about it.” Lup laughs. “Hey, don’t forget who made the original in the first place.”

“I never doubted you.” Taako flashes her a grin before reaching down to the dark-pink, black-laced, glitter-embroidered, fresh-out-of-the-oven Umbra Staff. 

“A thank you gift.” Lup offers.

“For what?” Taako raises an eyebrow.

“For everything.” Lup leans into his side. “Also, you’ll need it to be even close to my level.”

“Oh, what was that last part?” Taako waves the staff around experimentally. “I’m pretty sure I have more than a few extra years on you this time around.”

“Hm, at least it doesn’t show.” She reaches up and, softly brushes at his cheek.

Looking back at her, Taako tries not to remember the days not so long ago that he gave up that perfect resemblance. Just one more mistake to be corrected. 

“There’s still hours in the day.” Stepping back, or, rather, floating back, Lup gestures to the door. “Want to give it a spin?”
“You know me so well.” 

—

Over two weeks after their first arrival, at about three am, Taako is shaken into consciousness again by a familiar voice. 

Through the intercom blasting in the corner of their room, Davenport calls Taako, Merle and Magnus to see the Director. 

Expecting this already, Taako emerges fully dressed. Leaving everything else behind, he swipes the Pocket Spa and and shoves it in his pocket. It shifts slightly, showing the Lup is currently inside. 

“Wha…?” Merle hobbles to the door, still half asleep.

“Wanna put some real pants on, ol’ man?” Taako blocks the doorway.

“Hm?” Merle glances down at himself and, after probably too long a deliberation, sighs. “Yeah, alright.”

“What do you think it is?” Clueing in, Magnus grasps a nearby shirt to pull over his head.

“Hopefully something fun.” Taako grins. Lup buzzes excitedly.

“Must be another one of those relic-thingamajigs.” Merle shuffles back into view, dressed only slightly more presentable. “That’s kind of our job now, right?”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out, I guess.” Magnus steps past Taako.

“Lead the way.” Taako goes after him, letting the door begin to swing closed.

“Hey!” Merle calls out indignantly. “Wait for me, guys!” 

—

“Mere hours ago, one of our Reclaimers, a brave solider named Leeman Kessler, was…” Lucretia surveys the trio. “…Murdered in the city of Rockport.”

Magnus mutters, “Aw, bummer.”

“And his- his murder came at a most inopportune time because he managed to locate and retrieve one of the Grand Relics.”

“Grand Relics!” A harsh whisper, Merle turns to his friends. “That’s what they’re called.”

Taako snorts.

“Eh hem.” Lucretia draws attention back. Her expression is stern, but there’s a softness in her eyes. “Last night, we received a missive feeling of his success. But, before we could extract him, a thick fog set over Rockport which prevented us from sending a sphere to collect him and the Relic. However this is a commuter train that operates out of Rockport through the Teeth - a mountain range that separates the continent below and ends in Neverwinter where we could more safely and discreetly extract him. However, after he managed to secure passage on the train, after his cargo was loaded on, he was murdered.” She sighs. “Which leaves us in quite a sticky situation.”

“Do we know anything about the murder, or how, like it went down?” Magnus asks.

“We know nothing.” Lucretia shakes her head. “There’s… There’s just a lot of unknowns.”

“And the relic?” Taako prompts.

“It’s still on the train as far as we know,” Lucretia says. “Right now, the only way is that, well one of you must impersonate Leeman.”

“Can I!?” Merle glances at his friends.

“Think you can handle it?” Taako japes.

“Of course I can!” Merle puffs out his chest.

“What did Leeman look like?” Magnus asks.

Lucretia answers, “Uh, he was a half-elf man-”

“Heh.” Taako grins at Merle.

“But, there is no guarantee that the staff of the Rockport Limited even know what he looked like,”  Lucretia happily adds. “Just, pick whichever one of you is the best actor.” Then, “Though, you don’t have to decide this very minute.”

“We should probably, like, pack?” Taako looks beside him.

“Yeah, alright.” Merle shrugs.

“When you’re ready, Avi will send you on your way,” Lucretia says. “Good luck, you three.”

—

Chapter Text

—

“How long are we going for again?” Merle pulls his bag close.

“Like, who even knows?” Taako throws the words behind him. “It’s just a train trip, right? So, it probably won’t even be that long.”

Magnus frowns. “How long is a train from Rockport to, uh, wait, where’s it going again?”

“Aren’t we just getting on to grab the relic and then jumping off again?” Merle asks.

“Hey, dude, if you want to jump of a train, be my guest.” Taako swings his robe over his shoulders.

“Sounds kinda lame.” Above them, Robbie shifts in his bunk. “You said you’re going on a train?”

“Hopefully it’ll be quick,” Magnus says. “If anything, the longer it takes, the worse it’ll be.”

“Oh, how bad can it be?” Merle huffs.

“Probably, like, pretty bad.” Taako mutters. Leaning forward, he stealthy tucks the pocket spa into the outermost pocket of his bag.

Without much time to check, he just hopes that Lup is inside.

“Actually, if you’re heading out, can you grab me, like, some Pringles?” 

—

Magnus leans tiredly up against the glass side of the orb. Beneath them, land, forests and sea pass by them too quickly to discern. The dark sky of the early morning does little to elevate his tiredness. 

So, he tries to focus on the two forms opposite him. 

Taako picks at his nails, like he doesn’t have a care in the world. 

Merle is looking down, seeing the landscapes zoom by with a mild interest and a rising nervousness. 

After a minute or so, Magnus spots The Teeth come up beneath them. They’re almost at their destination. 

Though, as the craggy mountains come in and then out of view, Magnus can’t suppress the wave of deja vu that hits him just a little to hard. 

Somehow, it sobers him out his tiredness. Magnus looks back over at his friends with a newfound familiarity accompanied by a distanced foreignness. Blinking, he tries to discern why these forms seem so unreal. 

—

“Pegasi alert!” Taako points ahead of them. And, sure enough, the orb is headed straight for a large flock of flying pegasi, seemingly unaware of their incoming.

“What do we do!?” Merle panics, eyeing the thick lever just out of reach.

“That’s for landing, idiot!” Taako scans the landscape. “I can’t even see Rockport yet.”

“Think they’ll notice?” Magnus’ hands wander up to his face, ready to close his eyes.

In a moment of hypocrisy, Taako reaches out for the lever as the pegasi grow closer and closer. 

Then, the nearest one, small and covered in large, brown patches, glances up. 

Feathers and fur scatter out of sight, quickly diverging away from the trio’s approach. 

Merle sinks back into his seat with a sigh of relief. “They should really rethink the design of these things.” He taps at the glass.

“I think it’s made more for protecting us than anything we’d run in to.” Taako pulls his hand back.

“Well, no one and nothing is smushed today.” Magnus looks forward. “And, I think we’re ready to land for real this time.” 

—

The train starts its comforting, unrelenting hum just minutes after the three make it on board. Magnus, now masquerading as Leeman, follows as Jenkins leads the way through the train cars. 

Taako doesn’t dare take his eyes off of the elf. He won’t let that snazzy fuck pull any funny business this time around. 

Past the dining car, Jenkins officially dismisses the group. He resists each of the snide comments made - a practice Taako is very happy to undertake. 

“What now?” Magnus watches Jenkins walk away.

“Uh, I guess we should take a look around.” Merle stares up at the gilded surfaces all around. “Man, this is one stupidly fancy train.”

“I guess the Bureau has a pretty stacked budget.” Magnus laughs.

“It’s almost dawn, see?” Taako peers out the nearest window. He can’t stifle his yawn.

“Well, there doesn’t seem to be any problems?” Magnus shrugs. “They said we can grab the Relic once this train ride ends, so I guess we just need to play the waiting game.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to get back to that sleeper car.” Merle gestures behind them.

“Ditto.” Magnus grins. He glances over at Taako. “How about it?”

“Uh, as great as that sounds…” Taako grasps for an excuse. “I, um, elves don’t really need sleep? Also, I wanna check out this train again.” He smirks. “Do a run down of the witnesses.”

“Hey, sure, whatever.” Merle doesn’t stop walking.

“Come get us if you need anything,” Magnus says.

Taako fires off some finger guns. “I know where to find you.” 

—

For the next hour or so, Jenkins does absolutely fuck all. And Taako would know, because he spent all that precious time tailing the motherfucker. 

So, here he sits, staring conspicuously at a menu while he sends Jenkins routine suspicious glances. 

It isn’t until a familiar voice interrupts him that Taako remembers entirely where he is. 

“Sir?” 

Taako spins around in his chair, the sound muffled in the plush carpets. And there, looking curiously from the table right behind him, is the world’s greatest detective. 

“Agnes?” Taako can’t even manage a smile. His mind reels.

“U-Uh, you almost got it.” Angus, though, gives him a happy grin. He offers his hand. “I’m Angus McDonald, the world’s greatest detective!”

“R-Right.” Taako gingerly takes the hand and shakes. “Call me Taako, kiddo.”

“What are you doing there, sir?” Angus peers around Taako to look at Jenkins. “You’ve been watching him for a while now.”

“Well, what do you think, Buttercup?” Taako, finally, flashes a quick smirk.

“What do I think?” Angus frowns.

“Well, don’t you think he’s suspicious?” Taako shifts, leaning back to level with the boy. “That’s what I reckon.”

“How do you mean?” Angus twists proper in his seat. The Book of Interception sits closed in his lap.

“You tell me, Mister Detective.” Taako gestures at Jenkins, who stares absently at the window a little ways away. “It’s like a mystery. Think you can handle it?” 

—

“Ugh.” Magnus rolls over in the unfairly comfortable bed beneath him. Slowly, and aware of the fresh sunlight pouring over him, he opens his eyes. 

Merle lies spread-eagle across the small bed opposite. His snores are loud but consistent, dissolving into the white noise of the train. 

Where is he again? 

Magnus pushes himself up. Outside the window, grassy plains and hill speed past under the morning light.

“The… Rockport?” Magnus frowns. He could have sworn that they’d already-

A dull ache blanks out his thoughts, a too familiar static rushing through his eyes, his ears, his mouth. 

Unsteady and stumbling, Magnus moves to the door and slides it open. Still unconscious and unstirred, Merle is left in the suddenly empty room. 

—

“I’ll have you know, I consider myself to be a pretty competent amateur detective myself.” Taako smiles over at Angus.

“Yeah?” Angus clutches his book.

“For sure.” Taako chuckles. In mock concentration, he looks Angus up and down. “Ah, visiting a relative I see. Isn’t it dangerous for a ten year old to be travelling on his own? I hope your grandpa is at least meeting you at the station. It would be unfair, especially with that… thing you’re bringing for him.”

Taako revels in how Angus’ face lights up at his words.

“Wow, that’s real cool, sir!” Angus pauses. “Though, you still didn’t get my name right.”

“I’m still working on it, little man,” Taako says. “This time, how about you do most of the sleuthing.”

“I still don’t know why you’re investigating the train wizard,” Angus says.

“Hmm. I dunno, Aggs, It’s kind of secret.” Taako hums.

“A secret?” Angus tilts his head.

“Well, since you’re already better at me at detective-ing, maybe you’ll figure it out before the train stops.” 

“Taako!”

“Sir, there’s a voice coming from your bag.” Angus points.

“Yeah, well spotted.” Rolling his eyes, Taako retrieves his Stone of Farspeech and, at a whisper, “What’s up?”

“Go find Magnus.” Taking a similar tone, Lup quickly answers. “I mean, find us. It’s important.”

“Uh, sure.” Taako pushes himself up. “Where are you?”

“Sir?” Angus pushes up too.

“Chill out kid.” Taako grins before properly stepping away.

“Behind the sleeper car.” Lup says. “Hurry.”

“I will be right back, Ango.” Taako sends a quick glance back. “Just picking up my friends!”

The door to the train car clicks closed. 

Taako doesn’t even see Jenkins leave the room. 

—

Magnus sees Taako go. In a shining blast of white and black, Magnus has no energy to resist the pull in the other direction. 

Instead, he only watches. 

The domed Bureau Headquarters shudders and shakes. Black tendrils slam into the glass - the simple magic barrier won’t hold for long. 

And, there, what feels like a million miles away, Magnus watches Taako let of blast after blast of white light. 

Shining, beautiful light.

And, there, Magnus watches that light get consumed by The Hunger. 

He feels it in his chest. As the light flickers and fades, it’s as if his entire world, his entire being is being torn apart. 

They manage to board the last glass orb. The canon fires and, through the glass, Magnus sees Avi. He sees the man give him one last grin before a flash of light barely precedes the wave of darkness. 

Magnus cries and screams until his throat burns with blood. Hands pull at him, holding him away from the glass, away from the home they’d just made. 

Magnus barely sees the figures by his side. 

Angus grips too tightly at his sleeve. Carey and Killian stare, dumbstruck, and holding so close to each other and to him. 

There’s no use. The world is falling apart. Again.

Everything shudders and breaks. 

Magnus wakes up back on the surface. 

Above him, the sky is absorbed into a horror-scape of technicolour, impossible solid darkness.

He can’t see anything beyond it. 

There’s shouting, there’s screaming. Most of it was probably from himself. 

Finally, though, Magnus takes a look around. 

He sees the falling pillars, the roaming figures. 

And, he’s sees the last thing he ever does. 

Above them, two more orbs fly through the sky. The Hunger hadn’t reached them. 

That, at least, gives Magnus some relief. 

He doesn’t reach Angus in time. 

A monster, dark and enraged, collapses down onto the crying boy. 

He’s gone before Magnus can even scream. 

He doesn’t even see it happen to Carey and Killian. 

A beast falls to pieces in his grip.

He sees their bodies revealed behind the falling shadows. 

Magnus screams. 

And, when his time comes, he doesn’t even fight it. 

—

Chapter Text

—

Jogging through the train, Taako pauses for a second in the sleeper car. Two compartments down, he sees Merle still sleeping inside. 

A frown hardening, Taako continues to move. 

There’s a thin doorway leading into the small between-cars space that, already, Taako can see movement within. 

The door flies open. “Magnus!?” 

“T-Taako?” 

Magnus leans up against the metal wall, hands gripping at his sleeves and breath shaking. Looking at his friend, his eyes widen to an impossible scale. And, within them, flashing bright, is a silvery, glowing light. But, as Magnus blinks in recognition, the light slowly fades. 

“Taako!” 

Magnus throws himself forward, knocking them both to the ground. “You’re- You’re here, you’re alive!” 

“Of… course I am?” Taako pushes back just a little. “Hey, what’s-” Behind Magnus, Lup hangs there, semi-transparent. “What’s going on?”

“I…” Magnus heaves shaky, but solid breathes. “Shit, wait. Sorry, I shouldn’t have…” He pauses, looking Taako up and down. “Wait.”

He leans up, taking his weight off of Taako. He stares at his Umbra staff. “It… it didn’t used to look like that.” His burrows furrow.

“You- We- Wait.” He fixes Taako with an intense look. “What- What happened to Phandalin?”

“You’re probably pretty confused,” Taako starts. “You… wouldn’t happen to remember two very different conclusions to that story, would you?”

“I…” Magnus shakes his head, trying desperately filter through his thoughts.

“Hey, word of advice.” Taako leans in, taking Magnus’ hand. “Give it a second. It’s gonna be hard and fast if you try to do it all at once.”

“I-I…” Magnus closes his eyes, breathing eventually slowing.

“…Better?” Taako smiles. A nervous adrenaline weaves through his insides.

“You… It’s okay.” Magnus gasps. “Phandalin, it’s still there!”

“Hey, I’d say, in the end, it was a group effort.” Taako breaks into a wide smile.

“You did it!” Magnus cheers. He pulls at Taako’s hand, bringing them both back to a standing position. “You…” He lets Taako go. “You remember?”

“Yup.” Taako pops the ‘p’.

“Since when?” Magnus asks.

“Since that shitty bar.” Taako says. “The last job we’ll ever need to take, right?”

“You did… you had to go outside.” Magnus struggles to remember. “At least, this time you did.”

“There you go. You got it.” Taako nods. “Keep going. Just talk it out man.”

“I remember… You died.” A pause. “I died. E-Everyone…”

“And?”

“And now we’re back here.” He frown. “Does- Does anyone else-”

“Nope.” Taako shakes his head. “The one man show just turned into a duet.” He punches Magnus in the arm. 

“Hey, rude.” From behind Magnus, Lup flickers into view.

“Ah!” Magnus jumps. He stares, wide eyed, at Lup. He glances back at Taako and then back at her. “You… holy shit.”

“Koko told me the whole story,” Lup says. “I, uh, have no idea what happened with your weird future-memories, but I’m just sort of rolling with it for now.” She grins.

“You got her out.” Magnus turns to Taako, grin finally breaking free.

“It wasn’t that hard once I already had all the pieces.” Taako smirks.

“So, wait.” Magnus looks around. “If we’re on the Rockport, then-”

A shrill scream cuts off Magnus’ thoughts. 

“Oh, shit!” 

—

“Sir!”

Angus is already there when they arrive. He, the Juicy Wizard Graham, and Merle all stare down at the mutilated body in front of them. 

“Fuck.” Magnus steps forward.

“Woah, chill out cowboy.” Taako goes after him.

“He’s…” Magnus moves to stand by Merle.

“That’s pretty fucked up,” Merle says. Then, “Where were you guys?”

“Doesn’t matter.” A little too roughly, Magnus pushes Merle back.

“Hey!” Merle stumbles. “What’s the big idea!?”

“Oi!” Magnus clenches his fist and stares up at the ceiling.

Not a second later, a giant crab-like creature falls right on top of him.

“Holy shit!” Merle swears.

“Fuck!” Taako grasps for his staff, but Angus is faster.

A small crossbow bolt flies through the air, making quick contact with the crab. The monster, very displeased, screams and tries to jump at Angus. 

“Not today, fish finger!” Taako points his staff forward and fires off a half-dozen shots of Magic Missile at it. 

“Gotcha’!” Magnus grabs it from behind. Safely away from its snapping claws, the man struggles to wrestle it to the ground. 

Taako looks around, mentally doing way too many mental calculations before, “Fireball!” 

The crab’s head explodes into a burst of fire. It writhes, still in Magnus’ grip before, finally, falling still. 

—

“Holy shit!.” Merle backs up into the dining car.

“Is that the only phrase you know, old man?” Taako follows him.

“What was that thing?” Angus peers down at the monster.

Magnus shoves it off of himself. “Not much of anything now.” 

“Did you know?” Suddenly, Angus is in front of Taako.

“Know… what?” Taako goes for a feigned innocence.

“About him!” Angus points to Jenkins’ body. “You were the one following him around this whole time. Did you know this would happen?”

“Well, funny you should ask that, Anagram.” Taako preens. “And, my final answer is… No.” 

“Hey, Taako?” Magnus finally returns to the group. His expression is stern and his fists are clenched. “A word?”

“Uh, are you trying to frame me suspicious in front of Ango?” Taako follows him off anyway, but not without a quick glance back. “B-R-B.” 

—

“What?” Taako frowns as Magnus secures the door behind them.

“You were-” Magnus takes a deep breath. “Why didn’t you stop it?”

“Excuse me?” Taako crosses his arms.

“You knew that- that would happen already!” Magnus exclaims. “You said- You’ve remembered this whole time, since before we even got on the train!”

“Yeah, and I’ve been doing my best to make the ride smoother, if you hadn’t noticed.” Taako rebuts. “The leeches? Tom fucking Bodett? Even our shitty attempts at not-being that dumbass Leeman guy!”

“Those things don’t even matter!” Magnus gestures behind them. “You could have stopped that man from being killed, isn’t that more important?”

“Well, I was a little distracted.” Taako fumes, pointing into Magnus’ face. “Do you want an apology? Well, I’m so sorry that I decided that helping out my friend was more important than any doomed nobody on this damned fucking train!” Taako feels his face heat up. “What was I supposed to do? Chase Jenkins around like a fucking nanny while knowing that you were having a crisis just two cars down?” Taako takes a deep breath. “Alright. I fucked up a bit. So, I’m sorry that I’m not handling this as well as you might.” Breathing a little too heavily, Taako steps back. “I… just- Shit.”

“…Taako.” 

“What?”

“I… I’m sorry.” 

“…”

“You’re right. I- I shouldn’t have freaked out.”

“…S’all good, homie.” Taako finally looks back up, eyes tired and expression worn. “We, uh, should probably go back soon.”

“…Yeah, okay.” Magnus sighs. He eyes his friend cautiously, a guilt and a nervousness filling his stomach. Still, he lets his shoulders un-tense as he says, “So, uh, before that, what’s our plan of attack?”

—

“Miss us!?” Taako sweeps back into the car. There’s a tightness in his face that isn’t completely disguised. But, as Magnus’ form moves beside him, both men easily fall back into the space. Angus and Merle look up at him with odd looks. Lying across a table, Graham peers up at him, face still slightly green. 

“Did we miss anything?” Magnus awkwardly walks over.

“Uh, not really.” Merle gestures to the adjacent car. Not-Jenkins’ foot is barely visible through the doorway.

“I still don’t have an answer.” Angus goes straight to re-interrogating Taako.

“Uh…” Taako glances around at Magnus and Merle. “Well, you kind of did.”

“Yeah, but it was horseshit.” Angus crosses his arms.

“Hey!” Magnus can’t hide his smile. “Watch your language young man.”

“Are you three here together?” Angus looks up at them and then at Merle.

“Yup!” Taako grins. “Look, kid, we literally want the same thing as you do.”

“You… do?” Angus frowns.

“We’ve got a mystery to solve!” Taako sends Magnus a grin. “Right?”

“Uh, right.” Magnus nods. “Did you find any clues?”

Still not entirely convinced, Angus does end up sharing his found details about the body - the clean and not-clean cuts of the head and hands, the blood all over the room, and so on.

Taako keeps glancing over at Magnus, at the body, and back. 

“We can go ask around, I guess?” Merle glances around.

“There’s not that many people on board except for us,” Magnus says. “Just, uh…”

“Jess the Beheader,” Taako says. “And, uh, Mr Juicy.” He gestures at Graham, who’s passed out all over again.

“We should, um, split up and look for more clues?” Magnus suggests. He turns to Merle. “Think we can wake up this Juicy Wizard?”

“Probably.” Merle goes and pokes him. Graham groans just a little.

“We need to go check everyone’s alibi’s!” Angus jumps up, a notebook and pen suddenly in hand. He pauses and looks back over at Magnus and Taako. “I… still don’t trust all of you yet.”

“Fair enough.” Taako shrugs.

“…Okay.” Angus turns away, stepping around and back towards the body. 

“…What now?” Magnus whispers to Taako.

“Jenkins.” Taako grits his teeth. “We’re getting into that cargo car.”

—

“Should we just leave them there?” Magnus follows Taako towards the back of the train.

“The body’s still there,” Taako says, not looking back.

“…Huh?”

“Last time, the shitty fire crab burnt it up,” Taako pauses and looks back at Magnus. “Angus will probably figure out that it’s not Jenkins sooner rather than later.”

Magnus rubs his chin. “Oh, true.”

—

“Sirs! Sirs! I figured it out!” Angus rushes through the train. Merle huffs behind him, just as excitable. 

Though, what they eventually find is the blasted-open door to the cargo cart. Taako and Magnus are halfway over the uneven, broken ground. 

“Guys!?” 

“Shit.” In front of them, half on the ground, a smoking Jenkins tries to get to his feet.

“Fat chance.” Magnus holds Railsplitter at the ready.

“Che.” Jenkins stays where he is.

“You…” Angus comes up between them. “You figured it out?”

“Mostly by chance.” Taako quickly verifies. “Who knew we’d find a slimy git hiding in the cargo car?”

“You fools.” Jenkins shifts slightly, hands out of sight. “You can’t-”

“Oh, shut up!” Magnus jumps forward, axe flying through the air. 

Eyes wide, Jenkins slides out of the way, leaving one of Hudson’s hands in his place. 

A large, totally gross, meat golem springs up in front of Magnus. With a gasp, the man skids to a stop, narrowly missing an uncomfortable collision.

“Dammit.” Taako feels his staff heat up with a fresh spell. Then, “Angus, stay back.”

“B-But-” Angus is cut off by the golem’s loud roar and potent gaze.

Quickly Merle steps in front of Angus, quickly casting up a shield. “We’ll take care of this, kid.” 

—

Somehow, Jenkins doesn’t get himself thrown off a train this time around. 

Taako happily tackles the elf to the ground, stealing his wand and keeping him safely away from the action. 

Amongst the rest of the room, Magnus and Merle only have one meat golem to deal with this time. 

So, Taako is content out of the action and, instead, devotes his time to keeping the increasingly irritated Jenkins stuck to the floor.

“You- How did you do it!?”

“Maybe you’re just a shit wizard.”

“It’s been, like, a minute!”

“Can you keep it down, Wankins?”

“Ugh- That was my master plan!”

“If you say so… Jerkins.”

“Stop that!” 

Taako is silently glad for the past Merle and Magnus for giving him so much material to work with. 

—

“Okay, I’m done.” 

With one golem reduced to just its meat components, Taako shifts and points his staff at Jenkins.

“Sleep.” 

“That was easy.” Merle looks around the only somewhat destroyed car.

“I guess.” Merle glances over at Jenkins. “You alright there, Taako?”

“Couldn’t be better.” Taako gives him a thumbs up. Surprisingly, the villain’s chest is a comfortable place to sit. 

“Hey, Angus.” Magnus waves the boy over. “How long ‘till this train arrives in Neverwinter?”

“Uh… About half an hour?” Angus frowns. “Why?”

“Because without the engineer, we can’t get into the driver car,” Taako says. “Jerkins made sure his hands were wrecked, so the train won’t be stopping anytime soon.”

“W-What!?” Angus gasps. “What do we do?”

“Good question.” Magnus pauses thoughtfully. Then, “Hey is Dinkins’ wand still around here somewhere?” 

The contents of the car all shift is shimmering golds and silvers. The wand, which had slipped out of Jenkins’ hand at some point, is nowhere to be seen. 

“Time to start looting.” Taako grins and gets to his feet. “Uh, I mean, searching!”

—

Chapter Text

—

Angus leans up against the wall. Carefully, he watches the three other men in the room too easily explore through the random belongings they find within the car. 

Beside Jenkins’ unconscious body is the large safe he’d been cracking open. But, with the door missing, all of its contents had been scattered across the ground and lost along the floor. 

With a persisting nervousness, Angus figures that, maybe, he could find the silverware also kept somewhere in the car. 

But, with a short step forward, Angus’ foot knocks something on the floor. 

Immediately, something tugs at his stomach. 

Angus looks down, hands already stretching out to grasp the… thing that lies there. 

When his fingers just brush at the glittering glass of the Oculus, Angus’ world explodes.

—

“No!” 

Magnus jumps at Taako’s sudden shout. He pulls up from his crouch and looks anxiously around. 

And, there, in the corner of the room, is Angus. The boy has collapsed to the floor, the Oculus clearly glowing beside him. 

“Shit!” Magnus jumps forward, once hand knocking the Relic away while the other scoops Angus up off the ground. “Angus! Kid, get it together!”

Merle, too, begins to walk over. But, with a rush of adrenaline, Taako sends a fresh Sleep spell his way. 

“Angus!” Taako drops down at the same time a Merle, albeit still conscious. 

“What happened!?” Bursting into view, Lup presses into Taako’s side. “Is he okay?”

“C’mon, Ango.” Taako reaches out. But, just before his fingers connect, Angus’ eyes snap open.

With three pairs of eyes staring down, all they are met with is a glittering silver. 

“Ah!” Angus lets out a short, but horrified scream. He’s out of Magnus’ grip in a second. His back collides with the wall as he desperately tries to make sense of the world around him. Slowly, his eyes fade back to normal. 

“Angus?” Magnus rises slowly. Angus’ eyes stare up at him with an unbridled terror. “It’s just us… you know us, right?”

“…You’re- You’re…” Angus’ voice suddenly feels so small. He slowly looks around again, taking more time to see the unconscious Jenkins and Merle. And, with a small gasp, he looks up at Lup.

“…Miss Lup?” 

“Ango!” With a refreshed grin, Taako swoops in to scoop Angus into his arms. “Welcome to the party!”

“I was…” Angus leans into Taako’s embrace but twists to look at Magnus. “I saw…”

“Sorry kid.” Magnus offers his hand. “I was- I didn’t- I should have been faster.”

“N-No!” Angus wriggles in Taako’s grip, reaching out for Magnus. “No, I’d- It was my-”

“Now, I can tell where you’re going with this, but, this might not be the best time.” With a heave, Taako drops Angus back to the ground.

“But- I don’t understand, what happened?” Angus looks around for the third time. “You… this isn’t what happened the first time.”

“Well, a ‘thank you’ might be nice.” Taako twists, reaching down to the ground where a small, black case lies. He tosses it to Angus.

“May your grandfather rest in piece with his dumb silverware set with him.”

“You know, sirs…” Angus turns to the destroyed wall between cars. “I can’t tell if it was worse or better last time.”

“Hey, I’m totally up for chucking this guy if that’s what you want.” Taako pokes Jenkins with his foot.

“I thought we were going for less murder this time,” Magnus says. “But, also, I don’t care.”

“We still need to find a way to stop this train,” Angus says.

“I mean, we can fall back on our original method, but I’m open to suggestions,” Taako says.

“Wait, what happened the first time?” Lup floats through the air.

“Heh, I’ll tell ya later.” Taako laughs.

“Taako, you’re, like, a super wizard now, right?” Magnus asks. “Can’t you just use some spell?”

“Uh, who knows?” Taako shrugs. “Kinda lame though.”

“…Where’s the other hand?” Magnus finally says.

“What?” Taako frowns.

“Jenkins stole two hands,” Magnus says. “And that-” He gestures at the fallen clumps of meat. “Was only one of them.”

“Do we need both?” Taako wonders.

“I think there’s only one sensor by the door,” Angus says.

“Great!” Taako has a quick look around. “Where is it?”

“That was my question,” Magnus says.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Taako dismisses. “So, if I were a dumbass, irritating elf wizard, where would I hide a hand?”

“I don’t think you have to do much pretending on that one.” Behind him, Lup snickers.

“Thanks.” Taako tries to poke her with his staff, but it passes right through her. 

—

“Merle.” Magnus pokes Merle in the arm. “Merle! Wake up!”

“Hmm?” Blinking tiredly, Merle slowly regains his bearings. “What happened?”

“Freak magic accident.” Taako offers him his hand. “But, we need you to watch Jenkins.”

“What, why?” Merle looks over at the man.

“We have to go find the other hand of that engineer, Hudson,” Magnus says. “But, we probably shouldn’t leave him alone.”

“Also, his wand’s still in her somewhere,” Taako adds. “…Oh, and the Relic too, I guess.”

“Why am I stuck with the bummy job?” Merle grumbles.

“I mean, I can do it,” Magnus offers. “In case he wakes up, I’ll just bash him over the head.”

“Alright, then.” Taako gestures for Merle to follow. “Get your ass in gear, we’re hand-hunting.”

—

The train pulls into Neverwinter with only a little difficulties. 

In the end, it was Angus who found the Hudson’s left hand. 

As it turns out, it had been hurriedly stashed in the abandoned drink cart that, thanks to their quick defuse-al of the monster-crab situation, had been left mostly intact. 

So, about ten minutes into their search, Angus had made Magnus press Hudson’s hand into the small scanner by the door, which, thankfully, popped open without much trouble. 

“See, wasn’t that much easier than just blasting everything open?” Magnus grins.
“I’m pretty sure that was your idea in the first place,” Taako says. “Also, yeah, I wouldn’t want to wreck this train by accident.”

Outside on the platform, a scattering of waiting riders watch on curiously as, eventually, the doors pop open. Taako, after being assured that no one else would be let on or off board, heads to the platform and in search of some kind of train-related-query station and, eventually, gets his hand on a few local police officers. 

Jenkins is escorted off train along with what remains of Hudson’s body and it’s about that time that Magnus, Merle, Taako, and Angus make a quick escape. 

—

“How’d you manage getting into the Bureau in the first place, Agnes?” Taako converses with Angus at a whisper, aware of how Merle and Magnus walk just ahead of them. 

“Oh, don’t worry about that, sir!” Angus grins cheerily. “I’ll see you real soon!”

“Well, since you’re so sure.” Taako grins. “Go see your grandpa or whatever.”

“I do have the whole set this time.” Angus squeezes the case tight. Then, “Hey, um, Taako?”

“What’s up, little man?” Taako leans down just a little.

“I still don’t really, uh, get why we’re here, or how, but-” He looks up at Taako with determined eyes. “I’ll definitely do my best this time around!”

“As always, then?” Taako chuckles. “See you soon, okay?”

“Okay!” Angus steps away, just a bit. “See you!”

And he’s gone.

—

“Taako… where’d you get that?” Merle eyes the small sack in Taako’s hand.

“Oh, this ol’ thing?” Taako grins. “Well, there was a lot of nice stuff in that cargo car. And, since we stopped it getting completely stolen in the end, I figured…”

“What’d you get?” More curious than at all upset, Merle leans in.

“Taako!” Merle huffs. “Really?”

“What?” Taako smirks, a little indignant. “S’not like I killed anyone.”

“I shouldn’t have expected better of you.” Magnus rolls his eyes, but there’s a fondness in them that doesn’t dare fade away.

—

“That was… quick.” Lucretia greets them back in her office. “Not too much trouble, I hope?”

“Nothing we couldn’t handle.” Magnus grins. Taako doesn’t miss how his voice wavers at seeing her.

“Well, I’m glad.” A large, metal orb is ferried towards them. 

“Uh…” Magnus gives Taako a cautionary look.

Taako nods. 

The Oculus is dropped inside. 

—

“So, what did I miss?”

“Huh?” Magnus glances over from his bed. Around them, the room is empty.

“After I, y’know.” Taako rolls over his sheets to look at Magnus. “Something about D’jangus and you?”

“Oh… right.” Magnus stares up at the ceiling. “You- I saw you stop The Hunger.”

“‘Stop’ isn’t the word I’d use. I don’t think it went exactly to plan.”

“Well, it was distracted long enough that most of us got into those bubbles and shot off-moon… Avi didn’t make it.”

“…Then?”

“And then, uh, our bubble, that is, with Angus, Carry, Killian and I, we got knocked out of the sky. There were- there were monsters waiting for us on the surface.”

“Shit.”

“I-I wasn’t fast enough. I saw one of them- It- It got Angus. A-And then Carey and Killian and I couldn’t do anything.” Magnus chokes. Tears, thick and warm, stream down his face. “At that point, I didn’t even see it coming.” A pause. “I didn’t fight it.”

“…Y’know, I totally get the feeling.” Taako pushes himself into a sitting position. “…What about the others?”

“They’re fine,” Magnus says. “Or, they were the last I saw them.”

Taako lets out a soft sigh. “Good. Maybe, if they’re lucky, we won’t have to meet them back here.”

“…How exactly are we here anyway?” Magnus wonders. “I- I mean, this isn’t like all those cycles. We’re back in the same place, like none of it ever happened.”

“But it did.” Taako grimaces. “To us, anyway.”

“It’s seems weird, that we’d get a second chance,” Magnus says. “I can’t think of why or how.”

“Maybe, once we get back to the end, we’ll have the luxury of going after that mystery.”

“You’re right. For now, we still need to get all the Relics back together.” Then, “Is it okay to keep giving them to Lucretia, though?”

“There’s not much else to do with them.” Taako frowns. “I, uh, I’ve had a bit of time to think it all over, actually.”
Magnus finally gets up too. “Yeah?” 

“I think, for now, at least, we should keeps things as close as we can to what happened the first time,” Taako says. “I- Everything that happened with each Relic, there’s a lot of mistakes we made. But, if we try to turn everything on its head, we’ll have no idea what’s coming for us.”

“Yeah… I think I get it.” Magnus nods. “The first time went to shit because we had about zero clue about what we were doing. But, this time, we have the memories of it. If we can just go through everything, make it a little bit better, a little easier, then later we won’t be totally clueless.”

“You got it.” Taako grins. “Though, I’m not totally against a few changes.”

“Speaking of changes,” Magnus matches his look. “Where’d Lup run off to?”

“She drops to the surface a lot.” Taako shrugs. “After being trapped for so long, she’s probably enjoying the open space.”

“The timeline won’t get super messed up, right?” Magnus asks.

“Nah.” Taako grins. “…Maybe. Whatever. I don’t care.”

“Heh, that’s what I figured.” 

—

Chapter Text

—

The Midsummer Solstice brings with it the vast carnival-scape under the dark, star-lit sky.  

Employees of the Bureau that the three boys would never otherwise see all mingle out in the amassed Quad either eating, talking, or playing some rigged game or another.

Merle, Magnus and Taako maraud the various stands and attractions. Luckily, both Taako and Magnus steer clear of a certain can-related, ball-throwing game. Though, Magnus still decides to get his ‘Unicorn Double Barrel Special’. Taako mocks gagging every five seconds. 

“Oh, face painting!” Magnus cheers, pointing ahead.

“Magnus, you are a grown ass man.” Taako pokes him in the arm. “Really?”

“I’m gonna be a kitty.” Magnus decides.

“Oh, I want one too!” Merle follows quickly after Magnus.

Taako huffs, “Guys!” 

“It’s… weirdly festive for an organisation trying to save the world.” An invisible Lup comes up behind Taako, voice barely lingering in the air.

“Mm, I think I prefer Candlenights, though.” Taako hums. He watches Magnus pass a gold piece to a confused looking face-painter. “Why would they get a face-painter to a definitely adults-only festival? Scratch that, isn’t the Bureau, like, super secret? That means he’s a member who decided that he’d paint faces for today.”

“It’s a weird, weird world.” Lup laughs.

Eventually, Lucretia’s voice calls out over them.

“I’d almost forgotten about today, you know.” Magnus laughs.

“I hoped you’d completely forget.” Taako gives the ‘food’ in the man’s hands a glare.

“So, an eclipse, right?” Magnus pauses. “Doesn’t something happen here?”

“It…” Taako frowns. “Wait, yeah, isn’t this when-”

“Here.” Suddenly Leon appears in front of all three of them. “Unless you want to fuck over your eyes.”

“Oh, cool!” Merle takes one of the plastic sunglasses offered to them.

“Uh, thanks.” Taako grabs both and passes one to Magnus.

Voice dropped to a whisper, Magnus says, “What should we do?”

“It’s just, like, a jump-scare, right?” Taako shrugs. “Guess we just gotta deal.”

“Hm.” Magnus is hesitant, but slips on the shades and looks up expectantly anyways. 

Almost inaudible, a voice behind Taako and Magnus asks, “What happens?”

“I’d almost forgotten,” Taako whispers. “But, just keep your eyes up.”

Just as the real moon and then sun begin to align, a deafening shriek blasts across the sky. Around them, people fall to the ground limp and unconscious. 

“Shit.” Magnus slaps his hands to his ears and stumbles just a little.

“Woah!” Merle trips over backwards, but remains awake.

“…The fuck!?” Lup is unaffected, leaving her with a perfectly clear view of the pitch-black sky. Like a thousand orchestras playing at once, the three boys struggle to remain present, but, as they do, a thousand bright, white eyes burst from that darkness above them.

“No.” Lup gasps. 

And then, just as fast, everything fades back to normal. 

The trio all hit the ground, disorientated and reeling. 

Lup leans back in, “Was- Was that-”

“The Hunger.” Taako grimaces. “Don’t worry. That’s the last we’ll see for a while.” With only a little difficulty, Taako pushes himself to his feet. 

Looking around, he spots Lucretia still standing amongst the sea of fallen. 

Taako jogs over to her. 

“Hey!” 

She blinks, eyes still transfixed to the sky. Her mouth is half open, as if in shock.

Taako steps into her line of sight.

“…Hello? You still in there?”

Slowly, her head tips down to meet him. “T-Taako?”

“What was that?” Taako jumps straight to the point. He gestures around them. “I hope it ain’t a normal thing for you guys.”

“Uh-” Lucretia quickly sobers up. “No, it’s very unusual.”

“Are they dead!?” Coming up behind them, Merle calls out. “I hope they’re not dead.”

“No, they’re…” Lucretia glances down. “Just unconscious.”

“Merle, we can see them breathing.” Magnus says.

“Oh, right.” Merle relaxes. “Y’know, I just had to be sure. After seeing a bunch of creepy eyes in the sky, death isn’t that far fetched.” 

Lucretia sighs, truly and deeply tired but, still, she offers them a smile. “Could you help me rouse everyone? I’d rather not just leave them here.” 

—

Merle walks through the Bureau without a clear destination in mind. The last week had been disturbingly quiet, especially after the Midsummer incident. So, Merle finds himself with plenty of time to himself. 

Merle finds himself back in the Quad, somewhat comforted by the lush green grass. Above him, the bright blue sky shines down happily. But, staring up at the sun above, Merle can’t help but feel that he’s missing something. 

And, it’s not like he hasn’t noticed Taako and Magnus sneaking off together. Merle actually spotted them, sitting cross-legged alone in a training arena, and just talking to each other in hushed whispers. After about a minute of being unable to discern anything, Merle decided to leave them alone. 

Though, as the days grind on, Merle finds himself alone for longer and longer. And it feels so wrong. And he doesn’t know why.

—

“I have an urgent mission for you.” Lucretia stands upon the dais tot look over them. “You’ll need to depart posthaste.”

“Another Relic?” Magnus frowns. Silently, he counts the days. Quietly, he turns to Taako, “It’s early. Why is it early?”

“Guess we’ll have to find out.” Taako pauses. “So, what’s the jam?”

“One of our seekers has located it in Goldcliff,” Lucretia says. “However, it is reported to be in the hands of the master criminal: The Raven.” 

—

“This is fishy.” Magnus grimaces. “I thought we had another week or so.” He leans up against the wall of the hanger, safely out of range of Avi and Merle.

“Something must’ve happened.” Taako frowns thoughtfully. “What changed from last time?”

“Uh, I should ask you that,” Magnus says.

“True, true.” Taako nods. “Well, Phandalin is still up and running, but that’s a long way from Goldcliff.”

“Who was in Phandalin…” Magnus rubs his head. “I mean, out of the population, one of ‘em must’ve done something.”

“I dunno, might have been Tom Bodett.” Taako snickers.

“Ugh, no.” Magnus groans. Then, “Are you sure we’re not forgetting someone?”

“Not that I can think of.” Taako shrugs, but a frown disturbs his expression. “Though, I do feel like there’s someone that-”

“What are you two whining about?” Finally, Merle makes his way over to them. “We’re ready to take off.”

“Ah, sorry!” Magnus grins. “Let’s get going, I guess.”

“I suppose we’ll figure it out once we get there,” Taako tugs at his arm, pulling them both towards Merle. “But, until then, keep it on the down-low.”

“…Right.” Magnus heads towards Merle. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

—

Lup is somewhat against getting violently shot out of a magic, space-cannon. So, before Taako steps into the orb, she carefully slides out of his Pocket Spa. 

She considers giving Taako a sign but, as the canon readies to fire, she decides to just meet them at the destination. 

It’s a wonderfully unencumbered feeling to soar freely through the sky. The bright colours of the world above and below them sparkles in the fresh, white light that pours down. 

Lup keeps her friends, contained within the shining orb, in view above her. She’d rather not loose them amongst the blue sky and desert sands. 

But as, slowly, the city of Goldcliff rolls into view, Lup is struck by a soft, familiar feeling that paralyses her in the air. 

She can do nothing but stare at the shining city, a combined sense of apprehension and hopefulness swelling inside her. 

Bare hours after Taako had freed her, he’d told her about his meeting with the fleshy form of Barry and, somewhat sadly, claimed that they’d have to wait for his death to meet with him again. 

Lup had been both happy and sad, not wanting to wish a sooner death on her love, but also wanting so deeply to see him again. 

So, when she felt a strong magically pull that focused entirely on that city in front of her, Lup’s face splits into a wide grin. 

Taako, Merle and Magnus fly above her head, streaking down to the city and, with a renewed vigour, she follows them to the ground. 

—

Merle shuffles behind Magnus - Magnus, who easily leads the way through the streets of Goldcliff. Taako trails behind, barely glancing at the buildings around them. Watching his friends interact, agree and move forward, Merle has trouble thinking of them just as the friends he made bare weeks ago.

Why does it feel so wrong? 

—

“Hey, there’s the Trust!” Taako skips forward to the towering building. From the ground and most of the way up, thick, sprawling vines encase the previously vibrant, golden stone.

“That’s some freaky vine-work they’ve got going on,” Merle hums.

“Definitely goes against the super-dry, dusty-ass aesthetic they’ve got going on,” Magnus adds.

“Welp, that was fun.” Taako spins on his heel. “Which way to the station, then?”

“Uh, probably up that way, I think.” Magnus point. 

Not paying any attention at all, Merle continues to stare up at the building. Looking closely, he sees how the green vines sprout collections of tiny buds and leaves amongst their spiny skin. 

With a frown, Merle goes to look at Magnus, who’s talking to Taako in hushed whispers. 

Hesitant, but determined, Merle feels his head begin, just slightly, to spin as the cleric looks up to the bright blue sky above them. 

Then, in a swift flash, it all dissolves into white. 

—

“Magnus!” Merle watches the adjacent orb go down. The black tendrils of The Hunger diverge to catch the fallen occupants. 

“No…” Beside him, Davenport is pressed against the glass, mouth agape. 

The forest burns black. For a second, Merle thinks he sees a familiar face within the trees, staring up at him.

And then it’s gone. 

Merle wished he could say that they lasted for a long while after that.

He’d be lying if he did. 

The sun doesn’t rise in the morning. No, the hours pass still in that darkness. 

It doesn’t come like it had for the others. 

Merle sits up against the wall of some cave, the entrance sealed by a white light. 

In the end, they’d been separated from the other orb leaving Davenport and Merle alone. 

 At some point, Davenport goes a little deeper into the cave, just out of sight. 

Merle doesn’t see the barrier break. 

He doesn’t see the vaguely humanoid form come up behind him.

But he feels it. 

He doesn’t make a sound. 

—

Chapter Text

—

“Merle!” 

Magnus sees his friend fall. He’s there to catch Merle in his arms and see the slivery glow of his eyes before they squeeze shut. 

“Woah! Hey, buddy!” Magnus shifts his grip. “Merle! Wake up!”

“Oh shit. Oh shit.” Taako is beside them in a second. He watches as, unsteadily, Merle’s eyes flicker open for a split second.
“He’s remembering.” Taako gasps.

“What?” Magnus turns to him. “How do you know?”

“That weird silver stuff!” Taako points at Merle’s eyes. “It’s the same you and then Ango had. I’m sure of it.”

“Then, what should we do?” Magnus hefts Merle properly as he stands.

“We gotta move him,” Taako says, a rising panic in his voice. “This can’t happen here.”

“Where!?” Magnus looks desperately around. In the surrounding street, bystanders begin to look on.

“Hey!” Suddenly, a familiar voice intercepts the scene. “What’s going on over there!?”

Lieutenant Hurley of the Goldcliff Militia storms towards them, on hand on her hip and the other waving away the pedestrians. 

“Oh, thank Pan.” Taako lets out a sigh. “We really need a hand over here.”

“Looks like it.” Hurley frowns at the form of Merle in Magnus’ arms.

“We can go to the station,” Magnus says, mostly to Taako. “Can we?”

“You sure you don’t want, uh, like a doctor?” Hurley frowns.

“We kind of need to see Captain Bain, too.” Taako says. “It’s a long story, probably should be saved for later.”

“Hmph. Alright.” Hurley nods then, to Magnus. “You alright carrying him?”

“Yes.” Magnus nods. “Please, lead the way.” 

—

“Hey, aren’t you-” They run into Bain at the entrance.

“No time.” Magnus steps past him. “Is there anywhere we can put him?”

“Oh, fuck, yeah sure.” Bain gestures around the room. A small reception desk takes up most of the space, but the door just behind it remains ajar. “In there.”

“Thanks.” Magnus doesn’t waste a second longer. 

Taako locks the door once they’re inside. 

—

The staffroom of the Goldcliff Militia is, weirdly, bigger than their reception. The room is split in two by a long, white curtain with lockers on one side and a set of musty couches on the other. 

Once they’d come inside, Magnus had laid Merle out on the browning furniture before taking his seat on the sofa opposite. 

Taako remains standing, arms crossed, and is thus when a voice calls from his side. 

“Taako.” 

Instinctively and automatically, Taako grasps into his pocket. “Lup? Where’ve you been? We kind of have a situation here.”

“Well, you’re not the only one.” While those words would usually worry Taako, the pervading grin behind him convinces him otherwise. “Where are you right now?”

“Police station,” Taako says. “In the back room.”

“Give us a minute.” Lup laughs and, with that, she’s gone.

“…’Us’?” Magnus echoes.

“I guess we’ll have to wait to find out.” Taako shrugs, eyes falling back to Merle. “Though, we’ve been doing a little too much of that lately.”

—

Merle opens his eyes to soft, bright lights around him.

But, barely moments after he resisters his unfamiliar surroundings, Magnus’ voice jumps through his perception. 

“Oh, thank God.”

Merle turns his head, finally spotting the two figures by his side. “What in the seven hells-”

“You really scared us there, old man.” Taako leans down.

“Taako!” Merle hurriedly pushes himself off the couch to grab Taako around the waist. “You’re okay!”

“Hey, don’t act so surprised.” Taako tries to pry Merle off. Then, to Magnus, “He’s taking this a lot better than you did.”

“Oh lord.” Merle turns to Magnus and gasps. “On the Rockport! That’s what you two were doing!”

“He is taking this a lot  better than I did.” Magnus nods, splitting into a grin. “Good to see you again, Merle.”

“Heh, I will admit I’m still a little woozy.” Merle rubs his head.

“Hard to tell the difference between timelines, I know.” Magnus nods. “Taako’s the only one without that problem.”

“First place, fuckers.” Taako closes the door behind him and sinks to the floor.

Merle grins, looking his friends up and down. “But, really, it’s a real treat. I was super sure that you’d-” He stumbles. “Wait, how the fuck are we here?”

“Good question,” Taako says. “Also, no fucking clue, man.”

“Though, I would like to know what happened over on your end,” Magnus says. “Did I miss much?”

“Uh, no unfortunately,” Merle shakes his head. “Or, that is, I missed a whole lot.”

“Shit.” Taako scowls. “We really messed that one up, didn’t we?”

“Maybe the universe is taking pity on us,” Magnus says. “A buncha’ losers who screwed over the entire world and then some.”

“Hey, I mean, I’ll still take it,” Taako says. “If the universe is handing out free-passes, I’m down.”

“So.” Merle sinks back to the ground. “What have I missed?”

“Well-” Magnus opens his mouth, but is thoroughly interrupted by a sudden gust of warm air seeping into the room.

“What the hell-” Merle frowns.

“Hey!” Flickering into view almost directly in front of Merle, Lup grins brightly.

“Ah!” Merle stumbles back. “Holy shit!” He glances at Taako. “You- You got her out!?”

“What did you expect?” Taako huffs, a cheery smirk not leaving his face.

“Hey, so, you got future memories too, Merle?” Lup asks.

“Looks like,” Merle says. “Wait, you don’t?”

“Nope.” Lup sighs. “I feel like I’m missing out.” Then, as if suddenly struck, she lets out a gasp. “Shit!”

“What!?” Magnus panics, jumping to his feet.

“I completely forgot!” Lup spins around, facing the back of the room. “Get over here you fool!”

The three boys watch intently as, slower than Lup had appeared, a red swathe of fabric warps into view. 

“Uh, hey guys.” Barry waves at them awkwardly.

“Barry!” Magnus cheers, leaping towards him. “You’re dead! Great!”

“Heh, you sound like a psychopath.” Taako snickers. Still, he walks over to Barry. “Yo, my man.”

“Hey, Taako,” Barry nods. “Uh, thanks for the note.”

“Note?” Both Magnus and Merle turn to him.

“I might’ve slipped living Barry a little message in Phandalin.” Taako grins. “Looks like it did the trick.” He gasps, tuning to

Magnus suddenly. “That’s what I forgot!”

“Hey, are you the reason that we’re here early, then?” Merle asks. “If I haven’t done my math wrong, which I might’ve, we shouldn’t have arrived here yet.”

“Well?” Taako leans in towards Barry.

“Oh, yeah, maybe.” Barry shrugs. “Well, after I got back to myself, I read your note, Taako.” He nods to the elf. “But, I, uh, wasn’t really sure how to find ya. But, once I realised that you guys had gone after the Gauntlet, the trail go clearer.” He shrugs. “I heard that you’d gotten the Oculus off some train, too, so, uh, once I heard about the Gaia Sash being in Goldcliff, there I went.” He pauses, hesitant. “But, when I went looking for it, I saw that, uh, Bain guy?” He looks at the three for confirmation.

“Oh, yeah.” Merle nods. Then, “Oh, wait, fuck that guy.”

“Well, he’s not being very evil yet,” Magnus says. 

“Yeah, well, I saw that he had that, uh, silver thing that- that the, um, orc woman you were with had, I figured, hey, that’d probably be the best way to reach you.” He gestures at them. “And here you are.” He looks over at Lup. “All of you.”

“Aw.” Lup snickers. “So, that’s five out of seven, I guess.”

“Yeah, only the two hardest left,” Taako adds.

Merle’s expression drops. “Shit, wait, so, what’s the plan with the Relics, then? Are we still handing them off to Lucretia?”

“For now? Looks like,” Taako says. His face finally falls into a frown. “Uh, from the start, I figured that, until we need to, we should keep what happens this time around as close to the first time as possible.”

“Is that really a good idea?” Merle asks.

“Well, think about it this way,” Taako gestures vaguely. “Right now, we know exactly when, where, and how each of the Relics will show up as well as what kind of happens in between.”

“If we try to change too much now, it could throw everything else out of whack,” Lup says. “That’s about it, huh?”

“You got it.” Taako nods. “Look, I’m not all for just handing each bit of the Light to Lucy, but right now we need to focus on getting our shit together for when it really counts.”

“We can correct all those shitty mistakes we made,” Merle says. “We’ll end up in much better shape by the end of it, that’s for sure.”

“But, what is the plan once the endgame comes?” Barry asks. “I mean, you guys have seen it before, how was it going then?”

“Pretty shit, actually.” Taako says. “We- By the time we got the last relic, the Animus Bell, the Hunger was already basically on top of us.” 

“Lup gave me the rundown of what happened the first time, but…” Barry frowns. “There are still a few things that confuse me.”

“Shoot,” Taako says.

“Well, I’d say the big one is the ‘why’,” Barry says. Gesturing to the three, he continues, “It just, there’s no explanation to how you three are remembering things that haven’t happened yet.”

“Maybe, it’s like, parallel reality stuff?” Magnus frowns. “Ugh, that makes my head hurt.”

“Uh, my money’s on ‘magic’,” Taako says. “Honestly, that’s a little more likely.”

“Then, why is it only affecting you guys?” Barry asks. “Is there- Is there anything that happened particularly that might’ve caused this?”

“Well, apart from the death thing,” Magnus says. “No.”

“Death thing?” Lup echoes.

“What I mean is,” Magnus points at Taako. “Taako was, uh, the first one of us that died, in the future.” He gestures at himself and then Merle. “And, then it was me and then Merle.”

“Which aligns with the order in which your memories are returning.” Barry nods. “What, uh, exactly were you doing at those times?”

“Uh, running?” Magnus says. Then, “We were trying to get away from The Hunger, but it, uh, totally got us.”

“So… it was definitely just The Hunger that killed you guys?” Barry asks.

“Uh, yes?” Magnus shrugs. “Yeah, I mean, it definitely wasn’t anything else.”

“Think it means something?” Lup asks.

“Maybe.” Barry sighs. “I- I’d have to do a bit more research into it.”

“Hey, we got time.” Taako says. “It’s, what, in like a year and a half that it all goes to shit.”

“Yeah, well, waiting that long didn’t really do you guys any good, did it?” Lup raises an eyebrow.

“Touché.” Taako shrugs. “Well, right now, we should probably focus on getting the Gaia Sash before anything else.”

“We should go talk to Hurley,” Magnus decides. “She’s the reason we didn’t get completely wrecked the first time.”

“Well, at least we know where to find her,” Taako gestures to the door. “But, uh, what’s the plan after that?”

“Even though we’re a week early, it doesn’t seem like much has changed,” Magnus says. “The Raven is probably in the Trust building still, uh-” He frowns. “What word do you use for, like, ‘still’, but, in the past?”

“Don’t even hit me with that shit,” Taako says. He sends Barry a strong look and the lich closes his half open mouth.

“We’ll split up, then,” Lup dictates. Gesturing to herself and Barry, she says, “We can go check out some stuff but, uh, you guys know better, so I’ll let you call the shots.”

“Oh, how generous.” Taako snorts.

“Well, alright.” Magnus glances around the room. “What if we took Bain and Hurley up to the Trust building to talk to Sloane?”

“I can get past the vines!” Merle says, a little too excitedly.

“Oh, ugh.” Taako gags. “Yeah, I ain’t sitting through that show again.”
Merle seems to revel in Taako’s disaffection. “Hey, the faster the better right? And we know that it works.”

“Getting up there is only half the battle,” Magnus says. “Once we find Sloane, we need to talk her out of using the Sash.”

“Yeah, and that went so well the first time,” Merle says.

“If Hurley’s there, it’ll be easier,” Taako adds. “But, it still might go off the rails.”

“Hey, I’m down for some sick battle wagon-ing if need be.” Merle grins.

“As fun as that sounds-” Lup says. “Are you sure there isn’t a way to, uh, more efficiently defuse the situation?”

“Not with what we know now,” Magnus says. “But, uh, I’m down to default to making it up as we go along.”

“Hey, I’m confident in my improv skills.” Taako twirls his staff in his hand. “The only reason we failed last time was because Sloane had her hands on the Sash for too long.”

“And, now that we’re super early, that’s much less of an issue,” Merle says. “Whatever, let’s go bust that building!”

“If it’s seven against one, how bad can it be?” Lup shrugs.

“We still have to stay incognito, though.” Barry glances down at himself.

“Think you can manage?” Lup chuckles.

“If you’re with me? Always.”

—

Chapter Text

—

“Hello?” Magnus steps back out into the station.
“You all still alive in there?” Bain eyes the door behind Magnus.
“Uh, yeah, it’s all good.” Magnus laughs nervously. Glancing around, he says, “Hey where did, um, Lieutenant Hurley go?”
“Hurley?” Bain frowns. “Her shift ended, so she left.”
“…Oh.” Magnus grimaces slightly.
“Is something wrong?” Bain asks.
“Uh, no!” Magnus shakes his head. “It, uh, doesn’t matter.” He gestures behind him. “I’ll just grab the guys so we can get going again.”
“…Sure.” Bain shrugs and turns away. “Don’t be too long.”

Magnus quickly retreats back into the room. Inches away from the door, Taako gives him an odd look.
“What is it?” The elf asks.
“Hurley’s gone.” Magnus sighs.
“Gone?” Merle echoes.
“Apparently her shift ended,” Magnus says. “What do we do?”
“How about…” Taako glances back at his twin and her boyfriend. “We… go to the Trust.” He turns back to Magnus. “And you and Merle go track down Hurley.”
“Won’t Bain get suspicious?” Merle asks. “If we’re sure that the Sash is in there, what’s our excuse for splitting up?”
“Just pretend that you’re still out of it, homie,” Taako says. “You and Mags can hang out here while I keep the Captain busy.”
“Be careful, then,” Magnus says. “Even if we’re better prepared this time around, it won’t be an easy fight.”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Merle helpfully adds.
“Only if you two get your asses in gear,” Taako dismisses. “Where are you planning to look, then?”
“Out best shot is probably to check her garage, ” Magnus suggests. “And it’s basically the only lead we have.”

—

“Hey there Captain, my Captain!” Taako sends Bain a smirk as he exits the back room.
“Where’d your friend go?” Bain asks, arms crossed.
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Taako chuckles. “Though, our dear dwarven cleric needs just a little more down time.”
“Is that so?” Bain frowns. “I- I just think we should hurry and make our move, so-”
“Listen.” Taako leans in. “I totally get it. Really, I’m a big fan. So, here’d the how-do.” He waves his hands around with a flourish. “We are gonna head out to the trust while my friend-‘o’s chill out just a while longer.”
“Is that wise?” Bain uncrosses his arms. “The Raven- She isn’t one to be taken lightly.”
“I hear you, I hear you, dude.” Taako nods. “And, totally, we’ll avoid any actual fighting before they catch up, you know?” Taako grins. “It’ll just, be, like, some reconnaissance before any heavy hitting, hm?”
Behind Taako, the wizard hears his currently invisible sister attempt to muffle her quiet snickers.
“That…” Bain hesitates, a mixture of hesitance and worry filling his expression but, after a moment, he sighs. “Alright. It, uh, you’re the expert, I guess.”
“That’s why we’re here.” Taako presses his hand to his hip. “C’mon big guy, lead the way.”
“…Alright.” Bain steps towards the door. “Let’s just hope your friend recovers quickly.”

—

“…They’re gone.” Magnus peers through the thin gap in the door, watching as Taako ferries Bain out onto the street and out of sight.
“We’d better move fast.” Merle hops off of the lumpy couch. “Is there anyone else out there?”
“I think the receptionist,” Magnus glances back at him. “Uh, are you, like, actually all good?”
“I’ll be better once my damned Sash gets out of circulation,” Merle huffs. Then, “Yes, Magnus, I’ll be fine.”
“…Okay, fine.” Magnus leans away from the door and grasps its handle. “Let’s do this.”

—

“Ugh.” Taako prods at the thick, curling vines, aware of how they reach far up the building-side above him. He both regrets and is glad for not brining Merle along. 

With a sigh, Taako pulls out his staff and points it at the obscured doorway.
“Uh, what’re you doing there?” Beside him, Bain looks on.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Taako glances at him.
“We’ve had people try to blast through them,” Bain says. “They’ll grow back immediately.”
“Hm.” Taako shrugs. He takes a moment, staring down the wall of vines, to mentally run-down his spell options until, finally, “We’ll have to move fast, then.”
“You-”

“Fireball!” A flash of light barely precedes the tremendous, burning blaze that bursts from the end of Taako’s staff. With a thick miasma of heat and light, the immediate vines wither and burn. The now exposed side and door of the building are scorched black. 

“Let’s-a go!” Ignoring Bain’s protest, Taako leaps forward, feet first, at the cracked surface of the door. 

—

Lup hovers just outside the Goldcliff Trust. By her side, Barry looks down curiously as Taako ferries Bain inside the building and out of sight. 

“This is super weird.”
“Hah!” Lup laughs. “Yeah, but what’d you expect, babe?” As she speaks, she begins to float upwards, inspecting the vine-choked windows and walls.
“I guess…” Barry follows after her and, with a practiced ease, slips his hand into hers.
Almost missing the gesture, Lup sends him as toothy as grin as she can manage - which, it turns out, isn’t hard when you’re face is half-skull.
“I’ll admit, this wasn’t how I thought my day would play out,” Barry says, ignoring the loud explosion in the building beneath them. “But, I’m definitely glad that it did.”
“Aw, you sap.” Lup pokes him in the arm. “We’ll totally get on that later. But, for now, let’s get this God-damned relic back!”

—

“What… are you guys doing here?”
“Ah!” Magnus jumps a little too high, almost crushing Merle as he stumbles back from his landing.
“Hurley!” With a gasp, and after pushing Magnus’ behind off of him, Merle waves at the halfling.
“You can’t be here!” Hurley growls at them. Behind her, her battle-wagon garage stands tall and in the exact same condition the pair of men remember. She stares incredulously at them with a mixture of anger and worry. “How did- How did you even get here!?” She points a finger at them. “Who are you?”
“It’s a long story.” Magnus tries.
“No.” Hurley crosses her arms. “No, we’re not doing this. Give me answers. Now.”
“…” Magnus glances over at Merle, who just shrugs in response.
Hurley taps her foot impatiently. “What’s going on?”
“Alright.” Merle sighs. “This is going to sound crazy.”
“I can deal with crazy,” Hurley says.
“Yeah, I believe you,” Magnus chips in.
“Well, here we go.” Merle scratches his head. “I mean, there’s some stuff we can’t tell you, but I’ll do my best.”

—

“Woo hoo!” Taako jumps towards the elevator, throwing an unidentifiable spell behind him. 

“Slow down!” Coughing and spluttering, Bain almost trips as he runs after the excitable wizard. Spinning around, he turns to face the impending wave of swirling and hissing vines. 

“I gotcha’.” A little too calmly, Taako hits the ‘close doors’ button next to him and watches, gleefully, as the golden doors barely cut off the spiny tendrils that speed towards them. 

Humming, Taako hits the button for the top floor and goes to look at Bain, who leaning up against the wall.

“You’re insane.” Bain turns to him with a glare, wiping sweat off of his brow. 

“Well, thank you kindly.” Taako spins his staff in his hand. “Relax bubuleh, we’ll make it there in due time.”

“‘Due time’?” Bain fumes. 

“Chill.” Taako looks at the small, barely illuminated counter at the top of the elevator doors. And, as he watches, he sees it come to a sudden stop. 

“Hm?” Taako steps towards the doors.

“What’s going on now?” Bain huffs, watching Taako closely.

“Well, it couldn’t be that easy, could it?” Taako shrugs and, on cue, the doors slide open. 

—

“…You’re right.” Hurley gives Merle a deadpan expression. “You sound crazy.” She sends Magnus a glance. “Especially with that freaky static you kept falling into.”
“Yeah, we figured,” Magnus says. “But, we really do need your help. If you want to help her- well, it’s not something that any of us can do. It has to be you.” Magnus tries for a smile. “See, we totally messed up the first time, but we have to make things right this time, even if we can’t be the ones to do it.”
“…” Hurley hesitates. Silently, she turns to look back at her garage and, after a little more deliberation, turns back. “What’s the plan?”

—

“Oh, for goodness sake.” Taako kicks a vine away from his feet. Currently hovering in the middle of the room, Taako watches Bain struggle to make his way towards the stairway. Around them, large, wooden and vine-y tendrils threaten to completely fill the room. Even the windows have been almost completely blocked off, causing the room to be in an almost pitch darkness. Taako, luckily enough, has no problem manoeuvring around the room - ducking and dodging the sparse attacks sent his way. 

Gently, Taako sets himself down at the base of the first step of the staircase that stretches up and down the floors. From the walled-off indent, Taako is somewhat free of the plant-based creature currently attacking the Captain Bain. 

“I guess I should help out.” With a sigh, Taako points his staff out, not caring to aim properly. “Flesh to Stone.”

—

“Wait.” Barry stops his ascent, peering into the windows of the very top floor. Around them, all the other buildings sit far below, as if giving the Trust a wide berth. 

“Hm?” Lup, who’d been scanning the flat roof above, sinks down to Barry’s level. “What’s it?” 

“Here.” Barry floats a little closer, placing both liches in front of the only non-obscured window. And, visible in the middle of the room, a woman stands.

“The Raven, huh?” Lup easily identifies the black, raven mask over her head and, lower down, the Gaia Sash around her waist. “Looks like they were right.” Lup shoves her hands in her robes, digging through the invisible inner pockets.”

“Uh…” Barry watches her, confused.

“Alright!” Lup finally retrieves her Stone of Farspeech and brings it to her lips. “Taako! You there!?”

After a few seconds, a static-y voice answers. “What? I’m kinda busy here, Lu.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Lup rolls her eyes. “Well, just thought I’d let you know, we have eyes on the Raven girl. She’s exactly where you thought.”

There’s an initial pause, where voices dissolve in the distance. Until, “Well, that’s good. I’d rather not be wasting my time trying to keep this idiot alive.” Then, “Actually, that’s what I do everyday.”

Lup chuckles before saying, “You’re well practiced then?” 

“You have no idea.” Taako laughs. “Speaking of, I better get back to it. Call back if anything interesting happens.”

“Sure thing.” Lup turns back to the Raven, who hasn’t moved an inch. “Though, don’t hold your breath.” She spins, looking away and over the city below. “I hope the boys are keeping it together.”

“We can only hope.” 

“Uh, Lup?” Barry speaks up suddenly. 

“Hold up.” Lup lowers the stone, and glances back to him. “What’s up?”

Without a word, Barry points ahead - straight towards the building.

“Hm?” Lup peers through the window again. But, instead of seeing The Raven from the back, she’s met with two black, beady eyes staring straight at her.

“Oh, shit-”

—

Taako freezes, halfway up a flight of stairs. “…Lup?” He grips his Stone tight, but is met only with silence. “Shit.”

“What’re you doing?” Tiredly coming up behind him, Bain asks. 

“We gotta go.” As he says that, a loud rumbling shakes the building above and around them. Taako almost loses his balance and grips the slightly bent handrail for support.

“What’s that!?” Bain falls to a crouch, sitting awkwardly on the steps.

“Come on!” Taako pushes himself upright and starts properly running upwards. He brings his Stone back to his face and calls out. “Magnus! Merle! Please tell me you’re on your way!”

—

Chapter Text

—

“What!?” Magnus doesn’t dare reduce his pace. Beside him, Merle and Hurley sprint, as best as they can, through the streets. In front of them, Magnus sees the Trust and lets out a sigh of relief. “I see it! We’re coming over now!”

“Fucking- Hurry!” Taako’s voice comes out panicked. 

Gaze moving upwards, Magnus watches at, around the building’s top floor, clouds and smoke have begun to circle in a quickly darkening storm. Even at their distance, they can see fresh, bright green vines bursting from the windows and engulfing the walls. 

“Holy shit!” Merle calls out.

“Sloane!” Hurley gasps. 

“Dammit!” Frustrated and high on adrenaline, Magnus leans over and scoops Merle up under his arm. 

“Hey!” Merle protests, but doesn’t move - letting himself be carried along. 

Newly inspired, Hurley beings to speed up, which Magnus happily matches. And, soon enough, they reach the entrance to the building. 

“We gotta move fast!” Magnus stares helplessly at the thickly-vine-d entrance. He turns to Hurley. “How’d you do it?”

“Do what!?” Hurley snaps. 

“The first time, you got to the top floor from the outside!” Magnus says. “Can you do that again?”

“You gotta stop saying ‘again’.” Hurley scowls. “But, yeah.” She looks over at him. “But it’s a one-person ride.”

“Fine.” Magnus drops Merle and pulls out Railsplitter. “We’ll go the long way. Just get up there!”

“Fine!” Hurley backs up, pulling off her bag and digging through it. “You guys go ahead! We’ll meet up there!”

“Fine by me!” As rain begins to fall and lightening begins to flash and, too far above, the building is torn to pieces, Magnus swings Railsplitter violently into the door. And, with a loud groan and splintering of vines, the building is, once again, blown open. 

—

“Holy fuck!.” Lup throws fiery punches as dozens of thin and thick vines are thrown her way. In her peripheral, she watches Barry turn near invisible and entirely incorporeal. But, the magically-infused vines still land more hits than either of them would like. 

On the far side of the room, The Raven channels the energy of the Sash to throw violent winds and tremors through the building, slowly tearing away at the roof and walls - exposing them to the outside. 

“This isn’t working!” Lup calls. “We gotta stop her!”

“But we can’t hurt her.” Barry ends up at her side. “We gotta hold off until the others arrive.”

“Shit!” Lup throws another shot, the flames verging into bright blues. 

The Raven continues, unmoving, and expression hidden by her mask. But, finally, she speaks up in a distorted, but still discernible voice. “Why have you come? Who are you?’

Lup hesitates to answer and, instead, blows aside another vine. 

“It doesn’t matter.” The Raven says. “I-“

“Guess who!” 

An explosion of glittery, pink flame bursts from the previously vine-tangled stairway. And, from behind it, a widely grinning Taako jumps into the room.

“Taako!” Barry breathes a sigh of relief. 

“No fear, my dudes!” Taako gives them both a thumbs up. “The guys are coming up now!” 

Behind him, with a gasp, Bain also emerges. He looks around in awe, giving Lup and Barry incredulous looks before landing on the form of The Raven. “You!” 

“Oh, stop that.” Taako waves his staff. “Sleep.” 

Bain is out like a light, falling backwards before hitting the ground with a loud thud.

“Ugh.” Taako looks away, back to The Raven and co. 

“Who are you!?” The Raven calls, hand out and energy pulsating from them.

“T-a-a-k-o,” Taako waves. “It’s Taako, and you need to chill out.”

“Taako!” Lup flutters closer. “What’s are we doing, what’s the plan?”

“Relax!” Taako tucks his wand into his pocket, and holds his hands above his head. He focuses on The Raven, on Sloane, and says, “We don’t want to hurt you, but you’re making it pretty hard to avoid.”

“Just leave, then!” Sloan growls. “You can’t be here!”

“And we can’t really let you tear up this building.” Taako glances out the window. Rain streaks down the glass that flashes with every lightning bolt. “I’m pretty sure rain super messes up the ecosystems of deserts.”

“Leave!” A large vine flies towards Taako.

Jumping back, he barely dodges the thick green tendril that goes to dent the opposite wall. Taako speaks at the metallic sound, “Ouch.”

“Grrr…” Sloane raises her hands again.

Before she can do anything, Taako raises his hands and points at Lup and Barry. Under his breath, he casts Message. “Guys, don’t freak her out, but try and get the belt off her without fighting, got it?”

Both robed figures pause for a second before nodding. Lup disappears in the air while Barry carefully sinks to the floor, keeping as quiet and out of sight as he can.

Nodding to himself, Taako looks back to Sloane, who’s pouring green-tinted energy into the thick vines at her feet. Large, glistening barbs emerge from the thick green armour, quickly joined by scattered, pale flowers. 

“Silverpoint, really?” Taako frowns. “A little extreme, isn’t it?”

Sloane doesn’t speak and instead just holds out her hands, sending the vines flailing across the floor.

“Fine, then.” Taako pulls his wand out, sending a short blast of fire in a vague shield shape that mostly deflects the blow. Stumbling back a little, Taako takes a short glance around, realising that Barry has also disappeared from sight.

Turning back to Sloane, as she summons hand-like culminations of the green tendrils, Taako only prays to no God in particular that Magnus and Merle are smart enough to move their fucking asses. 

—

“Aaaaaaaaah!” Magnus waves Railsplitter in front of him with a panicked vigour. It slashes at the still hanging vines that they encounter while the two of them book it up the stairs.

“Stop screaming you oaf!” Merle shouts. “I can’t hear myself think!”

“I can't help it!” Magnus screams, slamming his blade heavily into a particularly thick vine, rendering it perfectly in two. “I have no idea what’s going on!!”

Merle scowls, listening as best he can to the pounding rain outside and more violent pounding on the top floor above them. Luckily, there don’t seem to be any explosions or the like, but with the cracks of thunder every few seconds, Merle questions his ability to tell.

“Woah!” Magnus suddenly comes to a stop. He stares up, looking at where a thick vine and torn apart the stairway about half-way up to the next floor, leaving a large gap instead. Magnus skids slightly, almost tripping down the gap, but implants Railsplitter into the wall and uses it as a hand hold. “Uh…” He says, looking at Merle. “You got spells?”

“Of course I do.” Merle steps forward, pushing Magnus’ legs out of the way. “Let me see…”

—

“Go, go, go!” Lup’s hands burn with flame, charring away the thinner vines at Sloane’s back. The shimmering form of Barry lingers at her side, looking between here and Taako as he dips and weaves out of the way of Sloane’s attacks.

“Ah ha!” Lup grins, using her hands to pull away at the last tendril. The small concavity that The Raven stands in is protected, or was protected, by a thick layer of vines to deflect any attack from behind. About a foot stands between here and the shimmering sash tied around her waist.

“Get it!” Lup harshly whispers, continuing to burn at the plants as they try to cover up the gap.

“Got it!” Barry leans in, shoving his hand through the gap, frowning as it fills his view completely. Still, after a few moments of grabbing ineffectively, the magical fabric falls into his hand and he grips it tight. “Got it!”

“babe, look out!” Lup cries out suddenly and, before Barry can even register it, a giant vine slams into his side, pushing him more than a few feet backwards and sprawling onto the floor.

“Shit!” Across the room, Taako is experiencing a similar situation. A vine gets him right in the face, shoving him against the wall with a loud clang.

Looking up, Taako spots a flowery vine fly towards him, all but dripping in deadly poison. With a scowl, Taako starts to raise his wand, mind reeling for the best spell.

Luckily though, he ends up not needing it.

“Sloane!” A window crashes open. “Sloane, you’re not a killer!”

In a flash, the vines all fall to the ground and, in a wave of simultaneous hot and cold, the weather outside is violently thrust back into desert sunlight.

Taako blinks. “What the fuck?”

—

“Taako, I just had the worst experience of my life!” Magnus loudly bemoans as he finally steps out onto the top floor. Coming up just behind him is Merle, who smells disgustingly like fruit and pollen and with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“No way, really?” Taako drawls out his sarcastic tone from where he lies, blood dripping onto his front.

“Oh shit, what happened?” Magnus asks, immediately walking over.

“That did.” Taako points to the centre of the room, to where Sloane and Hurley sit amongst the still vines, arms around each other. They speak quietly, as if unaware of the other people in the space.

“Aw.” Magnus smiles at the couple. Then, “What happened?”

“Lotsa stuff,” Taako says. “I got torn up a bit, thanks for asking.” He gestures at his face and chest. Bleeding gashes decorate his right cheek and forehead, matching the deeper ones on his torso. The moment makes him wince.

“Ah sorry.” Magnus turns to Merle, face twisting as he does. “Heal or something, you freaky as fuck old man.”

“Rude.” Merle huffs, walking towards them. “If it wasn’t for me, we’d still be stuck in that stairway!”

“I’d prefer that.” Magnus scrunches his nose.

“And I’d prefer to stay fifty feet away from that entire debacle,” Taako says. “Keep it to yourself, Merle.”

Merle rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Do you want to be healed or not?”

Magnus quickly spots Barry and Lup beside the smashed-in window and jogs over, keeping close to the wall in fear of disturbing Sloane or Hurley.

“Hey guys!” Magnus raises a hand in greeting. “Howzit going?”

“It’s been better,” Barry answers. His robe is torn up and stained in more than a few places, but his spectral form appears fine.

“Oh, did you want this?” Lup holds out the Gaia sash in her hands. “Ripped it off when your handling friend turned up- with impeccable timing, may I add.”

“Best get Merle to hang onto it,” Magnus says. “But I can take it to him.”

“Cool.” Lup drops it into her hand. “Is Taako okay?”

“He’ll be fine,” Magnus dismisses. 

“Taako left the Captain guy somewhere on the floor back there,” Lup adds. “What’re we gonna do with him?”

“I mean, he didn’t do much this time around,” Magnus says. “I guess we should just leave him.”

“Boring, but fair.” Lup shrugs. “I’m getting sick of seeing all these vines, can we get out of here yet or nah?”

“Uh…” Magnus looks over at Hurley and Sloane again. “I’ll ask.”

—

“For a group of crazies, you really came through,” Hurley smiles. “Thanks, Magnus.”

“Ah, I didn’t end up doing much of anything,” Magnus says. 

“Still,” Hurley says. “If you ever come back, we’ll be waiting.”

“Yeah, sure.” Magnus grins.

“And, with all that extra stuff you told me,” Hurley says. “Call if anything happens, got it?”

“Got it.”

“Thank all of you.” Sloane lowers her head slightly. “I can’t apologise enough for what I’ve done, for what I could have done.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Merle says. “We’ve seen worse, right?”

“Guess so.” Taako frowns at his ruined shirt. “I still hate getting blood out of things.”

“Don’t whine.” Lup comes up behind him. 

“Just- Keep away from anymore whacked out magical items,” Taako says. “And don’t get arrested or something. Or do, I don’t care.”

Sloane smiles a little. “Hurley said that the five of you have a very strange story, I look forward to hearing it sometime.”

“We’ll see about that,” Taako hums. 

Sloane nods. “Also, try the Goldcliff Beauran Tailors two blocks from here.” She smiles. “You seem like you’d appreciate it.”

Taako nudges Captain Bain with his foot a few times before properly dismissing the spell. “Hey.”

“…Mmph?” Bain slowly opens his eyes, blinking in the light. “Whadhappen?” He slurs.

“Just everything.” Taako rolls his eyes. “Your welcome.”

“Huh?” Bain sits up and looks around. Barry and Lup already disappeared from sight, promising to meet up afterwards. So, Bain just sees Magnus and Merle, picking at the remaining vines, as well as Sloane and Hurley, lingering awkwardly nearby.

“Hey, Captain,” Hurley greets. “Feeling okay?”

“…Seems like.” He gets to his feet, looking around again. He spots Sloane and frowns slightly. “Aren’t you-”

“A friend of your lieutenants, it seems,” Taako intervenes. Sloane has been stripped of her Raven’s mask and feathered regalia, reverting her to a much more civic image. “The two of them turned up to take down the crazy vine lady.” Taako gestures to the semi-sphere of vines in the middle of the room, now half-charred in ash. “Isn’t that right?”

“Ah- Yeah!” Hurley answers. “We got worried seeing everything happened up here, so we came to help, right Sloane?”

“…Yes?” Sloane blinks. “I mean, yes, that’s what happened.”

Bain hesitates, “I don’t-”

“And this ‘Raven’ person went poof once we took the sash off of ‘em,” Taako adds. “Not the first time the relic has offed its wielder.”

“…” Bain pauses. “I…see.” He turns to Taako. “And were is it now?”

“Merle’s got it.” Taako points. “Chill, we got this.”

“…We should go back to the station,” Bain eventually says. “We need to organise clean up.”

“Great idea.” Taako turns to Sloane and Hurley and winks. “We should blast, though.”

“You’re leaving?” Sloane asks.

“We got things to do, places to be,” Taako says. “Show me that tailors sometime soon though, got it?”

Sloane smiles. “Sometime soon. Sure.”

“Off to save the world, huh?” Hurley smirks. “Don’t keep us out of the action, alright?”

“We might not have a choice,” Taako shrugs. He turns to Merle and Magnus. “Alright you goons, let’s get moving! There’s sand in my shoes and I need to change my shirt! Vamanos!”

Chapter Text

“You came in this thing?” 

“Hehe, came-”

“Yeah, real fuckin’ mature Mags.”

Taako, Merle and Magnus walk down the darkened alleyway, the sun slowly setting over Goldcliff around them. 

Two, floating red figures linger near the glass orb that had cannoned the trio into the city in the first place. Barry, hood down, taps cautiously at the glass with a quizzical expression. 

“Safer than it looks,” Taako says.

“You’d be surprised what it can smash through!” Magnus grins wide as he walks forward. “Like pegasuses!”

“Pegasi,” Merle says. 

“Whatever.” Magus waves it off before turning back to the pair of liches. 

“Well, if you say so.” Barry turns away from the sphere to survey them properly. “What’s the, uh, plan boys?”

“Well, we still need to get rid of this.” Merle holds up the Gaia Sash. 

“And you’re still giving them to Lucretia?” Barry asks. “Uh, why?”

“Because, even if things went to shit the first time around, we had a decent plan at the start,” Taako says. “We still need Luce to get that barrier going.”

“But what went wrong?” Lup frowns. “I mean, I’m down for literally whatever, but I’d rather not see this world go to shit.”

“Oh, trust me,” Taako says. “You are not the only one. That shit is nasty.”

“We’re… actually not sure,” Magnus says. “About what to do.”

“Great. No plan,” Lup says. “Well, what else is new?”

“We still have some time,” Taako says. “And there’s still some people we need to collect.”

“People?” Lup asks. “Who?”

“Davenport and Luce properly, for one,” Taako says. “And a couple extras.” He glances back at Merle, who’s fiddling with the Gaia Sash in his hands. “…Wait.” 

“What?” Barry watches as Taako reaches out and snatches the Gaia Sash out of Merle’s hand.

“Hey!” The cleric protests. “That’s mine!”

“Relax, old man.” Taako swings the sash in his hand and faces Barry. “Hm…” He pauses, thinking for a moment. “Catch.” He throws the relic at Barry.

“Woah!” Barry’s semi-translucent hands fly up to grab the sash, catching it in mid-air. “W-Why do I have this?” He looks back at Taako, who’s frowning.

“Damn,” Taako says. 

“What is it?” Barry asks, passing the sash back to an indignant Merle.

“Oh!” Then, Magnus lets out a gasp. “I get it!”

“You do?” Merle asks. 

“Remember Ango?” Magnus asks. “When he got his hands on the Occulus, he got his memories back from last time, right?”

“From- Wait, what’s an Ango?” Barry asks. 

“Taako’s dumb magic kid,” Merle mutters. 

“It must be because you don't have physical bodies?” Magnus wonders. “Maybe, then you can remember.”

“Yeah, sounds easy,” Lup frowns. “Last I checked, my bod’s rotted to dust.”

“…Oh.” Barry blinks. “I could- I mean, it could only work for one of us at a time, and even then…” He frowns. “Uh…”

“You still have that card, right?” Taako asks. “The one Lup left behind?”

“Yeah, of course.” Barry nods. “Oh, shoot. Yeah, that could work.”

“Um, hold up boys.” Lup holds up her hands. “Back it up for me?”

“Barold’s got a machine that’ll grow you a new bod, sis,” Taako says. “Takes, what? A couple months?”

“We might not have that time, though,” Magnus says. 

“Well, luckily we have our own,” Taako grins. “Or, it will be ours soon enough.”

Magnus nods. “Sounds like a plan.”

“You… have another one?” Barry asks. “How- Where?”

“At the Bureau, belongs to cool cat named Garfield,” Taako says. “Don’t think about it too hard.” He stretches out his hand to Barry. “Card.”

“You have that one you?” Lup asks, in the same moment that Barry says, “Of course.”

He digs through his pockets and quickly produces the more than slightly worn card. He passes it to Taako, who grins triumphantly. “When you get back, we’ll have a relic and some jelly juice ready for you.” He uses his free hand to wave the pair away. “Now, I just know that you want to go off and be gross together.”

“We’ll call you.” Lup winks at him.

“If you must.”

—

Arriving back at the bureau comes with a familiar fanfare. Various uniformed characters appear to congratulate them on their victory, but it’s taken with a grain of salt. 

Merle keeps the sash held tightly to his chest, running his hands over the enchanted fabric nervously. 

In the end, though, they end up passing it to Lucretia. Taako sees the flitter of doubt or nervousness over her face as the sash is wheeled away, but says nothing. 

After following the usual formalities, the three are ferried out of Lucretia’s office. It’s dark out, with the sun fallen completely away in wake of an only partially starry sky. 

On any other day, Taako would have been more than relieved to head straight to bed to pass out for a day, but they have work to do.

“So… anyone remember when the Fantasy Costco is meant to close?” Merle asks.

“It’s not like we’re gonna buy the thing,” Taako says. “We’ll just sneak in, drop in Lup’s DNA instead of dear Magnus’ and move right on.”

“Won’t he notice?” Magnus asks. 

“Who knows?” Taako shrugs. “Maybe I’ll leave a note: Hey, Garfield. Hands off.”

“Haha, yeah, I’m sure he’ll love that,” Merle says. 

“Then I’ll bribe my way out,” Taako says. “Maybe getting that good good sword out of it as well.” Taako smirks. “That idiot won’t know what hit him.”

—

Taako sashays into the Fantasy Costco. “Garfield!” 

“Oh, a dear customer!” Immediately, the warlock appears in front of him, hands clasped. 

“Hello there,” Taako grins at him. “Listen, I know it’s late-”

“Yes, I was about to close up,” Garfield interrupts. “But your confidence intrigues me, it seems as if you have a particular deal in mind!”

“How perceptive of you,” Taako says. “Look, hombre, I’ll cut right to the chase.” He leans forwards slightly, thankful for his heels giving him extra height. “I want that fun gizmo you keep hidden in the back - the one that’ll pop a body out.”

Garfield visibly tenses. “And why would you assume that I have something like that?”

Taako raises an eyebrow. “Do you really want to do this, Garfield?” He twists the Umbra staff in his hands. “I know you have it, and I have a body to grow, so how about we come to an… agreement, hm?”

“…” Garfield hesitates for a second. “What do you have to offer?”

Taako smirks. “Excellent.” 

—

“Hey, shitstacks!” Taako kicks the door open to their shared room, now upgraded from the shitty bunk-bed one they shared with Robbie.

A half-asleep Magnus stirs from the couch and turns to face Taako. “Wha?”

“Ta-da!” Levitating a few feet off of the ground, the huge contraption floats into the room, barely fitting through the doorway. Taako knocks the lid with a triumphant grin. “Please, please, keep your excitement to yourselves.”

Magnus sits up properly and pushes himself off of the couch to approach. “How’d you do it?” 

“I have my ways.” Taako pushes the door closed behind him. “No problem.”

“It’s been over an hour.” Magnus glances over at the clock on the wall. “Actually, you know what? Nevermind.” He turns to look around the room. “Uh, shove it in a corner or something.” 

Taako ferries the machine over to the far wall and finally releases the spell and it clunks to the ground.

“And, one final touch.” Taako digs in his pockets and pulls out Lup’s message. “Bloop!” He chucks the piece of paper in. Immediately, most of the paper dissolves but the imprint of the lips remains, half-transparent, floating in the water. 

“All we need to do now is wait.” Taako steps back. The green glow of the tank highlights his skin eerily. 

“And we’ll be going to Lucas’ lab in a bit,” Magnus says. He grins at Taako. “Think you’ll switch up your introduction to Kravitz?”

“Hm, yeah, nah.” Taako grins devilishly. “I’ll just work the same ol’ Taako charm all over again.”

—

Darkness swirls in fog-like clouds shifting between shades of black, white and grey. 

Kravitz stands amongst a field of emptiness, a large book open in his hands. As his eyes move across the carefully printed lines, he hears a shuffle, and then a voice from behind him.

“You seem concerned.”

Kravitz snaps the book closed. He spins on his heels and meets the bottomless, pitch-black eyes of the Raven Queen. Even at the slight lean, she stands well over Kravitz’s height as she pools over him.

“Of course not, Milady.” Kravitz shakes his head. “My preparations are almost complete, I was just… doing some research.”

“Secrets cannot be kept from us.” She elongates upwards, standing up straight to create an imposing silhouette. 

“Um, yes, milady?” Kravitz frowns. "Is something wrong?”

“Not yet.” The Raven Queen takes in a short breath and, with a ruffle of black feathers, her form starts to dissolve back into the darkness. “We shall speak again soon.”

Kravitz waits until he is completely alone once again before letting out a sigh. He goes to open the book again, but he fumbles with it. It lands with a soft thump of the floor, open side down. With a roll of his eyes, Kravitz goes to pick it up again, taking a second to smooth out the pages.

His eyes catch onto one of the entries on the page.

Taako - wanted for 20 instances of material death without passing onto the Astral Plane
details: unknown

—

“We have until Candlenights until Lucas starts pulling his shit again.” Magnus speaks first, his pocket knife stabbed into the edge of the room’s only desk.

“And?” Merle reclines on his bed, tossing a ball of moss between his hands.

“Are we gonna do anything?” Magnus turns in his seat. He spots Taako lingering by a window, blowing dry his nail polish.

“I thought we already talked about this,” Taako says. “We’ll run it like we did before, just with less nonsense.”

And then Merle gasps. “My arm!” The moss ball falls on his head.

“What about it?” Taako raises an eyebrow.

“I have both my arms!” Merle’s eyes look ready to pop out of his head.

“Yeah, good goin’ there genius.” Taako frown. “Point?”

With a grunt, Merle moves to stand on the mattress. “I’m not letting you cut my arm off again!” He points a finger at Magnus. “So don’t even think about it!”

“Aw, but it’s a defining character trait!” Magnus groans.

“No arm chopping!” 

“Fine!”

Taako lets out a wide yawn. “Boring.”

“And I mean it!” Merle waves his arms around. “Not again!”

“I get it!” Magnus crosses his arms with a huff. But then he smirks. “Not even a finger?”

“No!”

Taako rolls his eyes. He shifts so he’s sitting properly on the ledge of the window, toning out the devolving argument beside him.

Instead, he uses a purple mage hand to pull his stone of far speech of a nearby table just as it starts to ring.

“Y’ello?” He holds it between his ear and his shoulder.

“Hi, sir!”

“Mango?” Taako pauses. “What the hell have you been up to?”

“It’s a secret, sir!” Angus cheerfully replies. “But, um, I needed to-” There’s shuffling on the other side.

“Hey doofus.” 

“…Lulu. Why have you kidnapped my protege?” Taako sighs. “What’s this about secrets?”

“You’ll find out.” Taako can hear the grin on Lup’s lips. “Are the boys with you right now?”

“When are they not?” Taako sighs. “Why?”

“We have an idea for a Candlenights surprise.” Lup chuckles. “Don’t tell ‘em, but we need your hand with a few things.”

“Oh?” Taako smirks. “Sounds interesting. Fine, go on…”