Up There

Raven's Nest relocates. And Glide gets a little weird over a feather...

When the group returned to the Nexus, Shetani was waiting for them. "So, this is our newest ally?" The goddess asked. "He looks like a scrapper, that's for sure."

Katsuhiko glanced at Alysteir, somewhat confused.

"It's a compliment." The angel wolf stated.

Katsuhiko turned his attention back to Shetani, bowing slightly to show his thanks.

"Come on, let's get going." Glide said, picking Icarcti up and hugging the bat tightly. "The sooner we get Up There, the sooner we can hammer out a plan."

Shetani nodded, orbs of light surrounding the group and carrying them up to the realm of the gods.

 

...

 

"At least we still have powers up here..." Therali muttered, leaning against the door to one of the gods' homes. "We wouldn't want these places to just fade away, would we?"

Briar nodded, holding his staff out and letting go. The weapon stayed horizontal, levitating. "We can use the Great Coliseum as a meeting place." The hare said, hopping up to take a seat on his staff. "The mortals can use Orochi's old home as their sleeping quarters; it should have enough rooms for everybody."

"What can we do in the Great Coliseum?" Micah asked. "When I was up here, it was a pretty powerful area, like... like a giant artifact. Does it still have its own powers?"

Therali shrugged. "It should, but I'm not sure. We'll have to go check it out when 'Tani gets here with the others."

As if on cue, orbs of light rose from the ground, swirling for a moment before vanishing. "My ears were ringing." Shetani said, grinning. "Did someone talk about me while I wasn't here?"

"Of course not, 'Tani." Therali chuckled. "We were just saying that we'll need to check the Great Coliseum out when you get here, to see if it still has its powers."

"What is the 'Great Coliseum', anyway?" Niqi asked.

Briar dropped from his staff, grabbing it out of the air. "Come on, I'll show you. Look lively, boys and girls."

The members of Raven's Nest and the other gods followed behind Briar as the hare headed for an enormous building in the distance.

 

...

 

The Great Coliseum was a high-walled building of solid stone, looking as if it had once been a mountain that had simply been hollowed out. The Coliseum had no roof to speak of, the ground within covered in lush grass. Flowering vines climbed the walls at each entrance, framing the archways with vivid blues, reds and yellows.

Therali reached up, gently touching one of the red flowers. "It still has its powers."

Briar nodded. "Looks that way. Boy, that's a load off my mind. If this place lost its powers, we'd be... well, we'd be pretty boned."

Glide headed inside the Arena, looking around, grinning. "This is a pretty nice place, ain't it, firefly?"

Icarcti nodded. "It's... a bit colorful, but it feels very powerful."

Niqi's eyebrows rose. "What did you call him? 'Firefly'?"

"Yeah." Glide replied. "Because he's small, cute, quick, and he lights my way through the darkness."

Briar entered, making his way toward the center of the arena. A rainbow-colored feather was laying on the ground. "Hey, what's this...?"

Glide looked over, his gaze swinging to the feather fast enough for his neck to crack. He darted past Briar, giving the hare a rough shove on the way by and scooping up the feather.

Briar landed on his a*s, glaring up at Glide. "What the hell was that for!?"

"You're not gettin' your paws on this, bunny boy." Glide replied, tucking the feather behind his ear. "It's too powerful for someone like you."

"I'm an Elder God." Briar growled. "You think you can just-"

"If you argue, I will knock you out." Glide stated.

Briar blinked. "You're going to fight me... over a feather?"

"It's a quill pen." Glide responded, returning to his spot next to Icarcti. The feather seemed to melt into him, forming a small patch of rainbow-colored fur on the back of his ear.

Briar stood up, dusting off the back of his pants and muttering to himself.

"... So, um, what can we do here?" Ambree asked.

Therali let one of his paws rest on the Arena's wall. "We can train. We can access any kind of monster, no matter what 'verse they're from. Or, if you feel the need to, we can create monsters just to train against. Perhaps now would be the best time to build up your Aura."

Realization suddenly dawned on the human girl. "That weird shield you gave me! I-I never got a chance to use it!"

"While you train Ambree, I'll show the others to their rooms." Shetani said.

Jessica held up a paw. "I need to speak with Myotis in private. We'll catch up to you in a few moments."

Glide clasped his paws together, focusing for a moment before pulling them apart and pressing them against the ground. His shadow rose up, nodding to him and picking Icarcti up, following Shetani.

Jessica led Glide out of the Coliseum, to an area a few yards away. "Myotis, I think my age is finally catching up with me. I'll need to settle down eventually, and I suppose now is as good a time as any." She paused, removing the sheathed kukri knives from her belt. "Here. I won't need them anymore, and they should see more combat instead of simply sitting on a shelf somewhere, collecting dust."

Glide chuckled, taking the knives. "I know better than to question you, mom. But what if the demons manage to bring the fight here?"

"Myotis, you should know me better than that. If it comes down to that, I'll be fine." Jessica replied. "Who do you think you get one of your more... unique abilities from? Anything you can use as a weapon, I can use as a weapon."

Glide grinned. "I should've known."

"Now, get going." Jessica said. "Go back to your love. I'm going to explore this place."

Glide nodded, a burst of flame enveloping him, flame the same vivid azure as Icarcti's eyes. When the flames died, he was gone.

 

...

 

The room that Glide appeared in was rather large and lavishly decorated. The walls and ceiling were painted black, the carpet on the floor matching. The bed was covered with black silk sheets, his shadow lounging on it.

Icarcti was sitting sideways in large, plush chair nearby, his feet propped up on the armrest and a book in his paws. He looked up as Glide appeared, then returned his gaze to his book. "So, what did your mom want?"

"She's done with fighting." Glide replied, taking a seat on the bed. "She said it's time for her to 'settle down'."

"Her choice." Icarcti said, closing his book and setting it aside. He got up from the chair, moving to sit beside Glide.

Glide nodded. "Yeah, I know it is. I just wish she'd picked a better time, y'know? In the middle of the biggest shitstorm this 'verse has seen in centuries ain't exactly the best time to settle down." He paused, flashing Icarcti a grin and setting the sheathed kukri knives in the little bat's lap. "Here. Mom wants 'em to see more combat, and you're better with daggers."

"I'll see to it that they're used as much as they deserve to be." Icarcti stated, setting the knives aside and laying back on the bed.

Glide grinned, laying beside Icarcti and wrapping an arm around the bat. "Wanna just stay here until we're needed?"

Icarcti nodded, snuggling up to Glide.

 

...

 

"So," Niqi said, idly twirling Bane. "Care to demonstrate the powers of this place?"

Therali smirked. "Don't you think your leader should be here for that?"

Micah set his book down, glancing at Therali. "... Dude, f**k him. He's not here, it's his loss."

Niqi grinned. "I don't think he'd appreciate being dragged out here for it, either. Let him figure it out later."

Alysteir nodded, plucking a flower from a vine growing along one of the Coliseum's arches. "She's right. Besides, it's not like he's all that qualified to be our leader, anyway, so why should he be brought out for the important stuff?"

Niqi shot a look at her son, and then gave him a once-over, as if expecting to see someone else standing there. "Look, I don't know what you've heard, but...Glide is my friend. He has been for years. Dissing him is fine, questioning his leadership is not."

"What I've heard?" Alysteir growled. "How about what I've seen?"

"What are you on about?" Niqi asked.

"Ask yourself this. Why would a hero be hanging around with a bat like his little friend? Better yet, ask him." Alysteir said, leaving the Coliseum.

Niqi watched her son go, confused, and then heaved a sigh. She sat down and put her head in her hands. "So...much...crap...at...once." She massaged her forehead like it was in pain, and then looked back up at Therali. "How's about that demonstration?"

Therali chuckled, nodding. "Alright. How about we craft a creature to train against?"

"Sure," Niqi said, waving a hand vaguely. "Make it threatening and overconfident."

"How about something like this?" Therali asked. His eyes flashed white for a moment, then a horned lion, about seven feet tall, appeared in the center of the Coliseum, a pair of wings on its back, its six arms holding six identical swords.

Niqi's eyes widened. "Yeah, I'd say that's about threatening enough."

Therali grinned. "And that's not all we can do from here, but we'll save the angel deployment for another time. You wanna try to take this thing on, or should I just toss it?"

Niqi glanced over at Micah. "Wanna share?"

Micah shrugged, drawing his cleaver. "Sure."

Niqi stood back up, Scourge and Bane at the ready in a moment. "Release it from whatever frozen state it's in," she said to Therali.

Therali nodded, stepping back and releasing the lion. "Have at it. But don't take too long."

Niqi darted forward, ducking low to the ground and swiping for the lion's right leg with Scourge.

The lion took to the air, avioding Niqi's attack, but putting itself in a position to by struck by Micah's cleaver. The thrown blade managed to sever one of the lion's wings, sending it plummeting to the ground.

Niqi leapt, quite literally, at the opportunity to plant both of her swords into the creature's spine.

The creature died rather quickly once its spine had been cut.

Micah grinned, stepping forward and catching his cleaver, sheathing it again. "Well, that seemed a little easy."

Niqi grinned as well, and looked over at Therali. "How about something a little less...wobbly?"

Therali laughed. "Okay, okay. I'll give you one of my personal favorites."

 

...

 

Niqi panted lightly, slumped over with her head resting against Micah's shoulder. Corpses of many strange-looking creatures were strewn about in front of them. "Too exhausted to think of something clever to say... So, you know, that was fun," she said, a little breathless.

Micah chuckled. "Yeah, it was. I'm gonna go find some water, 'cause if I don't clean my blade, it's gonna rust..."

Niqi nodded, leaning off of him and standing up. "Carnage always helps to clear my mind. I've gotta go figure out some things..." She glanced towards a large mansion, where she'd seen Alysteir wander off, and then back at Micah. "See you later tonight?"

"Yeah, sure thing." Micah replied, leaving the Coliseum. "You'll be able to find me, I'm sure." He tossed over his shoulder, grinning.

Niqi grinned, her heart thudding irregularly, and then she turned to face the mansion. There was a mock-sun Up There, to create the illusion of days and nights, and it was nearly gone by now; the building was black against the fading light. Niqi's heart thudded irregularly for a different reason, and she set off toward it.

 

...

 

It wasn't hard to track her son's scent to where it was strongest, a room on the third floor. She knocked on the closed door.

"Door's unlocked." Alysteir called from inside. "Come on in."

Niqi opened the door hesitantly.

Alysteir was seated on his bed, his sword in his paws. He was polishing the weapon with what appeared to be his shirt.

"Hey," Niqi said. She walked slowly over to him, and then sat down beside him on his bed. She took a deep breath, and then exhaled. "We haven't had a one-on-one since you got here. So it really is you, then," she said, a small hint of skepticism in her voice.

Alysteir nodded. "Of course it's me. Who else could it be?"

"I don't know. We've run into a few people who can put up some pretty convincing disguises," Niqi stated, leveling Alysteir with a hard look. "Your father among them, if..."

"I'm not as good with those kinds of spells as dad is, but I can do a little bit in our current future." Alysteir said, shrugging. "If you're worried about people not being who they say they are, you should talk to your friend, not me."

If Niqi hadn't had a lot of practice with supressing emotion lately, she likely would have jumped up and begun yelling, demanding to know why her supposed son was calling one of her closest friends into question. As it was, though, she took another deep breath, and then said, "I'd appreciate it if you told me what you meant."

"Do you know who that bat is?" Alysteir asked, setting his sword aside.

This had been one of the points that had confused Niqi the most. "Yes. Icarcti, Glide's love, cute little bat boy. Kinda hard to get, from what I've heard."

Alysteir barked out a humorless laugh. "You need to do some more research, mom. That kid's pure hellspawn. He's not on our side."

Niqi opened her mouth, and then closed it, looking extremely puzzled. "I mean, he's a necromancer, but-"

"He's a villain." Alysteir stated. "Now, you remember that question from before? Ask it to yourself again and see what the answer is."

"Which question are we talking, here?" Niqi asked, unable to process much of anything that was being said to her.

Alysteir sighed, rolling his eyes. "If Glide is a hero, why is he so close to a bat like that?"

"I don't..." Niqi trailed, realizing that she really didn't know much about Icarcti, other than the fact that Glide was madly in love with him. "Icarcti is a villain? But - but no, he's been fighting for our side. I've seen him fight the demons," she stressed.

"Who called him?" Alysteir asked. "Who asked him to come here?"

"Glide did," Niqi replied immediately.

Alysteir nodded. "Exactly. Glide is the reason he's here."

Niqi squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head, and then she pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "You're not making sense. What proof do you have of any of this? How is Icarcti a villain if he's fighting for us?"

"He's only fighting on our side because Glide asked him to." Alysteir said. "Haven't you ever heard of wolves in sheep's clothing?"

Niqi glared at Alysteir. "But what makes him a villain in the first place?" She was growing agitated.

Alysteir growled. "Maybe the fact that he spent time taking down heroes before he came here."

Niqi continued glaring. "Gimme something concrete. Everything you're saying is just empty words."

"Maybe you should go ask him, then." Alysteir said, getting up. "You're never going to believe me anyway, so you might as well go get lied to again, put your mind at ease until you discover the truth."

"Fine," Niqi snapped, standing up as well. "Fine, I'll go question the one that saved me when the Earth was being destroyed, the one who's the reason you're alive." If you are who you say you are, she added silently. Her suspicions that "Alysteir" was someone from the demons' side sent to tear Raven's Nest apart were growing by the minute, and if that was the case, the last thing anyone needed was for her to voice the theory to him.

Alysteir opened the door. "Go on, then. Maybe you'll be lucky and he'll actually tell you."

Niqi stalked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

She spent the walk to Glide's room fuming, and when she was in front of the door she realized she had no idea what exactly to ask him. She paused for a while before knocking on the door.

Glide opened the door, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and a metal collar, though it didn't look like Niqi interrupted anything.

His appearance rendered her silent for a moment or two, and then she said, "Alysteir's been saying...things about you."

Glide left the door open, moving to sit back on the bed beside Icarcti. "Come on in, let's hear what's on your mind. Y'know, what small amount of mind there is for it to be on."

Niqi smiled, but it faded quickly. "It's, um, well..." She put a hand on the back of her neck, and her eyes darted over to Icarcti and back, quickly and of their own volition. She squeezed them shut again. "Some crap about Icarcti being a villain. Killing heroes before he met you. I expect he would've gotten around to saying that makes you a villain by association, if I'd given him the time." She opened her eyes. "But that makes no sense, either, because Icarcti was the one to change sides for you, not the other way around."

"Before he met me?" Glide asked, raising an eyebrow. "He still does it." He grinned, hooking an arm around Icarcti's shoulders. "My mate's a villain, yeah."

Niqi blinked, and then threw her arms up into the air. "I don't get it. I give up. Someone define villain for me."

Glide chuckled. "What is it that you don't get? We'll try to clarify. And we'll go slow, so you can understand."

"I don't get why he thinks you're not to be trusted. You're still Glide, as far as I can see," Niqi said.

"Of course I'm still me." Glide said. "Sure, I'm a torture specialist, a sadistic a*****e and a psychotic b*****d, but the bottom line is, I'm still me."

Niqi nodded. "I can't watch you when you go horrific-torture on someone, but I get why you do it to the b******s that deserve it. And I do it too, so it's not like I'm going to stand here being a pot and calling your kettle-a*s black." She paused. "So what is his deal?"

Glide shrugged. "Maybe it's something that hasn't happened yet."

Niqi heaved a sigh. "Looks like I gave birth to a squeamish son. Fantastic." She glanced up at Glide and Icarcti, and then something registered in her mind. "Did you call him your...mate?" she asked, her expression dumbfounded.

Glide nodded, pointing to the collar around his neck; Icarcti was wearing a matching one.

Niqi opened her mouth, and then closed it again, and then raised her eyebrows, and then gave them both a tight-lipped smile and two thumbs up. "You two have fun with that," she said. She backed out of the room, closing the door.

Behind the door, both Glide and Icarcti burst out laughing.

 

...

 

Niqi panted lightly, not unlike when she'd finished her killing spree with Micah earlier in the day. She lay with her face against the fur of his bare stomach for many minutes, growling quietly and contentedly at his fingers in her hair. She'd dragged a bag of clothes into his room, and after a while, she got up and began rummaging inside of it for pajamas.

Micah grinned, standing up and getting back into his own pajamas. "Have fun?"

Niqi nodded, deciding on black silk pajamas and beginning to pull them on. "Helps to take the mind off the utter s**t we're in," she commented. She paused, and then sighed. "No, I would have had fun either way. I like this." She looked over at Micah. "But...you do realize the shitstorm we're going to find ourselves in once we go back down?"

"Yeah, I know." Micah replied. "But we'll be able to get through it. We always do. I mean, how can we lose with the greatest hero in the 'verse on our side?"

Niqi smirked. "You don't speak so highly of him when you're around him," she said. She walked close to Micah. Her smirk faded. "But...like... I'm worried, a bit, and..." She bit her lip and didn't speak for many seconds. Finally, she came up with, "Have you ever heard of Schrödinger's cat?"

"... Uh, yeah, but where are you goin' with this?" Micah asked.

"I don't know. It was used as a metaphor in this book I read, and..." She looked up at him. "If you never open the box, the cat is supposedly both alive and dead. And if you want the cat to be alive, there's this weird comfort in that, because if you do open the box and find the cat is dead, well, it's like, wouldn't it be better to not open it? But it's not. Because the cat is alive or the cat is dead regardless of whether or not you open the box, you just don't know yourself until you do."

Micah glanced over at Niqi. "I said I've heard of it. Why are you bringing it up?"

"Like I said, there's going to be a shitstorm soon. And...in case anything happens...I kind of want to find out if a certain cat is alive or dead. Um." She stared at the wall beside Micah's head.

Micah blinked. "Which cat are we talkin' about?"

Niqi took a deep breath, and then she seemed to find her courage. She looked back at Micah and then took his face in her paws. Her eyes seemed to shine and her voice quavered as she said, “I love you, okay?” She swallowed, and before he could say anything, she was talking at full speed. “I don’t love the sex. I don’t love your body. I love you. And that’s scary, for me, but I do. I love you when you desperately want a sword twisted into the shape of a poodle, I love you when you shield me from the rain with one of your wings even though it's kinda unnecessary,” her paws had migrated down to his shoulders, and her claws dug into him slightly now, “I love you when you force me to say that I'm yours when we're in bed, and I love you when you're killing all manner of creatures and looking damn sexy while doing it.” She dropped her paws to her sides. “And I don’t believe that by loving you I’m somehow entitled to be loved back, so that’s not an obligation or anything, it’s just…yeah. I’m just putting it out there. Because you should know.” She sat down on the bed, now, not meeting his eyes. “That’s basically it.”

Micah chuckled, wrapping Niqi in a hug. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna die down there. And I love you, too."

Niqi looked at him for three seconds, and then launched herself at him, pinning him against the wall, both her arms and legs wrapped around him. She kissed him on the lips, and then on the neck. "The cat's alive?" she said in his ear.

Micah smirked, licking his muzzle. "The cat's immortal."

Niqi felt around for Micah's paw and grasped it in her own. "Be with me?" she whispered, still nuzzled into his neckfur.

Micah nodded. "Until kingdom come."

Niqi pulled back, so that they were nose-to-nose. "Mates?"

"Duh." Micah laughed.

Niqi plunged her face back into his neckfur, actual tears escaping her. She was grinning nearly from ear to ear. Suddenly, she let go of him except for his hand, which she used to throw him back onto the bed with vampire speed. "This calls for a celebration," she declared, launching herself after him.

"Oh, hell, this is gonna be a long night..." Micah muttered, smiling and shaking his head.