Land of gods

by cosmicstar35

Summary:

The team has arrived in eridia in hopes of convincing the eridian gods for help

Chapter 1: Ch 1: lets make a deal

(Location: eridia’s court)
(Zephyr pov)

Well…here we are but it seems dark…
“I must leave you all…”
Melian says walking away
“Melian?”
“I’m not meant to interfere in this now…good luck.”
What does she mean good luck-
“So you arrive…”
The darkness fades as we stand in front of multiple eridian gods…some we recognize…one sitting in a throne…he had black hair with gold streaks in his hair with a tied down ponytail…he wore a crown and a yellow beige uniform with sharp shoulder armor…his eyes were completely golden with diamond pupils as outlines and a thunderbolt on his left eye and peach fuzz
“Rai…”
“Gods no…I’m not my brother Roland…”
He replies
“So you enter our realm…what I guess is a trial…”
Crimson stood in front of us
“Crimson…”
“It’s fine…”
He looked at at the god
“I’m here for hope to save a friend from a eridian wraith…”
“Hmm Lilith?”
Crimson nods
“She made her choice I’m afraid…and I should hold you in trial for what happened with Rai…true he was an asshole but someone has to-“
“Hey now hold on…”
We look to see Solaris
“I know this champion Cain…I’m sure everything was in self defense and yes your brother is an asshole”
He leans into his seat
“I don’t know…maybe we should give the fella a fair trial on this Lilith thing.”
“I agree with the sun demi god…it was a month ago…maybe we can let this trial happen!!”
Ambrosia speaks up
“Oh please…he’s still a killer. LOOK WHAT HE DID TO ME!!”
Nimbus exclaimed
“The only reason you got stabbed with your trident was cause you wanted to be an asshole!”
Ambrosia slams into her chair
“AND THE ONLY REASON YOU AREN’T EXECUTED IS CAUSE YOUR A DADDY’S GIRL!!”
“YOU WANNA FUCKING GO NIMBUS!?”
“ENOUGH!!”
*BOOM!*
A thunder strike bangs
“…”
“Ramiro…Sancus…your judgment has helped us before In these trials…should we hear it out?”
Cain turns to two people, one had light reddish hair tied down and he wore a light pale red and orange outfit with armor and a small cloak that hung on the side, the orange matching his eyes and the eridian markings, I noticed he had a dark pale red armored tail with tiny spikes, he also wore a yellow flower attire, Sancus had a human form…but still had features from his dragon appearance, he had long black hair with pale blue horns. His eyes a pale blue with the pupils being a light blue diamond…he also had a third eye from what it looks like and markings as well. He wore a gray and pale blue uniform with the sleeves being bandages and sky blue Fur on his neck like the black and pale blue tail that hung on his back
“…”
“As my duty as the god of judgement it’s only fair we give them a chance…”
Ramiro turns to Sancus
“Sancus…?”
“…”
“Yes…I say we give them chance.”
Sancus responds softly
“Very well…but let’s make it interesting..”
I raise an eyebrow
“What do you mean by that?”
I ask
“If you convince the few gods of the choosing in each trial…we’ll help you in this na’tu situation…”
Cain explains. So if we manage to convince them…then Lilith gets to free?
…
“So what do you say…Roland?”
Cain smiles
“…bring it.”
“Wonderful!!”
He claps
“Of course I’m a fair god so I shall send you all to our little lounge to prepare and once your ready just ring the bell…however fair warning. It’s sudden”
…I guess we’re doing this

 

-TBC-

Chapter 2: A lyre’s judgement

Summary:

God 1: swara—goddess of music

The first challange approaches

Location: eridia’s lounge
(Paris pov)

 

“Did you just put us in a challange against literal gods?!”
Tannis exclaimed
“Either Cain killed us or we play along…and plus if we convince the gods then they’ll help us. War avoided…I think.”
Crimson sighs
“Crimson is right…this might be our best shot.”
Ava adds
“You didn’t mention gods!!”
Vex exclaimed
“Yeah…you wouldn’t have believed it…”
Zephyr sighs
“Well your not wrong BUT HOLY SHIT!!”
Vex continued
“Alright let’s calm down…the first challange is always easy”
“NOT WITH A GOD!!”
Tannis continued
“ALRIGHT EVERYONE!! JUST RELAX…”
Ava exclaimed as she takes a deep breath
“We got this…”
Ava says walking over to the bell
“…”
“Let’s go it..”

*DING!!*

(Location: Swara’s realm)
(Paris pov)

 

We entered an area filled with sunlight and grass…the trees had yellow leaves. I look over at the others and noticed we all had different outfits
“What is this?!”
Tannis exclaims as she wears a short pale reddish brown shirt jacket with a greenish blue bead necklace and wore tealish sunglasses
“It ain’t that bad Tannis…”
Lucifer laughs, he wore a gray shirt with a sunflower headband and sunflower accessories
“I am not loving this…”
Vex sighs
“Ohhh Cain didn’t mention that…”
We turn to see a god standing by a tree holding a lyre, they had golden hair with yellow and white wolf ears with the tail being almost golden like their legs. they had on a uniform that matched their theme with bits of white in the uniform
“I will be your judge today…the goddess of music…swara”
She starts playing her lyre
“Crimson and Paris…attacked a hyperion base. Caused a slaughter and made a man choose between himself and others…reminds me of when Lilith wanted hyperion off the map.”
She looked over at us
“Why should we let that situation grow?”
She smiled as I stood in front of the others
“Those guards were planning something and on the train here…I spoke with Bernadette while everyone else was busy…they weren’t even on Bernadette’s side!”
I smile
“But now hyperion will tread with caution and live on!!”
Swara looked in thought for a moment
“Well that is true…Jack was truly awful. So many creatures and people gone…left with unsung melodies”
She frowned
“Anyways your statement is swell…now carry on with the challanges!”
She smiled
“Thank you…goddess of music”
I kneel down
“No need for the kneeling.”
I stand back up
“However I will give you some advice on my brother…Apollo.”
“Ok?”
“He has a bit of a tough shell…that’s all I can say.”
Noted…I see swara look over at Tannis
“Not a fan of my style are we?”
She laughs
“Yes…”
“Welp the worshippers I see wear this so I like the style…flower people or something like it. Anyways I bid you adieu.”

 

-CHALLANGE 1 COMPLETE!!!-

Chapter 3: Forging trust

Summary:

Waylon’s trial (he doesn’t wanna be here)

Location: eridia lounge
(Paris pov)

That was…easier then I thought
“Huh…maybe we can do this.”
I respond
“Yeah…complete these challanges…find na’tu…get Lilith back.”
Crimson mutters.
“Yes…”
We turn to see ambrosia appear in her new thunder attire but still resembling her title as the Demi goddess of immortality
“Ambrosia!”
Crimson exclaims
“Hello crimson…I’m sorry this has happened. I didn’t know about Lilith”
“You know this goddess?”
Tannis asks
“I attempted to keep him on my island until Callisto came along and told us we could both escape…I’m more free now…”
Ambrosia looked away sheepishly
“You what-“
“As a friend…I have morals..”
Ambrosia sighs
“So your a Demi god of immortality?”
Tannis asks
“Correct.”
She smiles
“I just wanted to wish you luck with Waylon…but I know you won’t need it”
“Thank you…”
I walk over to the bell
“You guys ready?”
“Yeah..”

*DING!*

Location: Waylon’s forge
(Crimson pov)

“Holy shit holy shit holy shit!!”
I turn over to zephyr who wore a black turtle neck with armor pads on the end of his sleeves with one sleeve being casual green that connects to the X on him and the other sleeve being black
“This feels like we’re in bunkers and badasses!!”
Zephyr smiles while talking with Sloane and vex
“Not bad…”
Vex smiles at her outfit. I notice my outfit…it was a grayish white color with armor pads at the end of my sleeve while my robot arm just as a bit of armor on it
“We got swords too…”
Paris says looking at the sword holster that’s like mine
“Paris!!! You look amazing”
He wore a simple gray shirt underneath a pale blue cloak with a cape that hung behind him
“Shall we get this done with?”
We turn to see what we guess is Waylon exiting a room and grabbing supplies, he had tied up beige white hair which had a pale blue four leaf clover and a pair of goggles, his eyes held a tired expression with the pupils being a rectangle and its color a gray blue. His uniform a pale sky blue with a diamond in the middle, I notice he has giant mechanical pale sky blue wings with gray gears and a small beige and blue dragon like tail
“You're asking for my assistance in breaking na’tu’s control…you are asking to release a siren whose blind on trust..”
Waylon sighs as he grabs a hammer
“If I remember…she was meant to stay in sanctuary yet didn’t…tell me why I should go along?”
He asks
“I did tell her to stay, that's true…but it seems in the end we did need her help when it came to angel…it did come with a price though.”
I explained
“trust must be forged Roland…”
“I know…and trust can be forged if you choose to help…”
“…”
“…”
“Fine…I’m too busy to care for this whole mess anyway…”
Waylon sighs as he continues to work
“Wait, it’s that easy?”
Paris asks
“I have work to do…Cain wanted someone in here…it’s not like we’re getting paid…”
“Wait what currency do the eridian gods use if I may ask.”
Tannis asks
“Either gold or eridium…are we done here…?”
“Um…I guess so?”
“Good…now leave.”

 

-CHALLENGE 2 COMPLETE-

Chapter 4: Blinded judgement

Summary:

Ramiro’s judgement call

(Location: eridia lounge)
(Ajax pov)

“He really didn’t wanna be there…”
“No kidding..”
Sloane responds to my comment
“Look, we got past two gods already. We just gotta be ready for the third one”
Crimson responds
“I have to admit…Waylon had an awesome theme, kinda miss the armor.”
vex says as she fixes up her jacket
“I know right…I think he got my style right.”
Lucifer laughs
“Alright…let’s see who we got next”

*DING!*

(Location: Ramiro’s hall)
(Jane pov)

We got sent to a gold and orange hall
“Evening vault hunters…”
Ramiro stood in front of us
“The god of judgement…”
I whispered
“As the god of judgement I’ve seen every action by the raiders…Lilith clearly doesn’t understand what it is to hold life and death in her hands…an execution on Athena who was unarmed, for what reason? It won’t erase the past so why should I allow you to pass?”
Ramiro glares
…
…
I remember this memory…I was on a mission with Ajax when we found this
“Maybe consider this god of judgement…Lilith could’ve tried to execute Athena again yet she didn’t and in the end she was let go.”
I move closer slowly
“This proves that judgement has changed…”
Ramiro sighs as he turns away
“I suppose judgement has changed in these years…”
“They have changed…I may not have met Lilith properly but it seems from everything…her judgement isn’t blinded by rage anymore.”
I continued
“…you are wise…”
Ramiro turns back to us
“You may pass.”

 

-CHALLENGE 3 COMPLETE-

Chapter 5: A broken heart

Summary:

The challenge of the goddess of love

(Location: eridia lounge)
(Zephyr pov)

“That was intense…”
I sigh
“Not really…I’ve seen people like Ramiro before…”
Jane responded
“Really?”
“I don’t wanna get into it…”
“So you made it to the 4th god.”
We turn to see two other gods
“Hestia!”
Lucifer runs over to the goddess. She had pale red hair with completely golden eyes with eridian markings and freckles and red feathers for ears. I notice her hands were wings instead, she wore a frilled dark pale red and light pale red outfit with a red and black shoulder cape, and on top of her head was a red and pale light red moth piece…the other god had no eyes but black scarring that should be where the eyes are and its mouth isn’t visible. It had moth like antenna that was a dark gray blue and it had long,disheveled teal hair with a black rose on it, the shoulder cape was a pale teal green with a black eye and I saw the god had long black claws and pale gray blue talons
“This is Hestia.”
“Yep this is my great grandmother…well about a few far years back.”
…
“What-“
“Ummm…I was going to tell you guys..”
“Lucifer don’t worry them too much…”
I look over at crimson who was caught off guard
“Wait…you mean to tell us that your related to the goddess of fire.”
Crimson asks
“Yeah.”
“…so that would mean-“
“Blair and Lilith are also connected to Hestia.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t see what’s so…surprising about this.”
The damaged god wondered
“Ares!”
Hestia laughs
“Not everyone can tell if a person has a blood connection to a god!”
She continued
“Well you broke crimson…”
I replied
“So what brings you here?”
“I wanted to share something about the 4th gods you will face.”
Gods?
“There’s two of them?”
“Yeah…the goddesses of love and lust…Venus and Eros…Venus is my sister and Eros is her daughter”
She explains
“Is there anything we have to be worried about?”
I ask
“Well Venus…can be a bit…much but I’m sure you’ll get through to her and Eros.”
She walks over to crimson as I head over to the bell…I was confused
“I’m sorry…”
Crimson just looked away from Hestia
“Thank you…”

 

*DING!*

 

(Location: Venus’s lounge)

The room was black with white diamonds patterns with mirrors and I look over at a circled bed with a white curtain. There are a few lights in the room with fires in candle holders hanging on the ceiling and walls
“Mother…the trial people are here.”
We look to see someone standing by the bed like a guard, she had white hair with a black streak in it, she wore a feathered masquerade mask but her white eyes with heart pupils are visible, she had feathers as ears and wings for arms just like Hestia, she wore a fur scarf that hung on her shoulders with her outfit just white and gray with the dress having 2 white stars,I’m guessing that’s Eros . We see someone else exit the bed with the curtains open, revealing a woman with white hair like Eros with the two having the same feathered features but her feathers are white and black with a feathered tail, her outfit was black with her dress having a black bow and the other part being white, her eyes were white with a black gradient, her eridian markings were white and orange
“The high and mighty Lilith…”
She responds looking at one of the mirrors, this must be venus
“She claims to love her family yet her mother died of a broken heart and left Blair alone giving her the anger she needed to disturb the vault…”
She smiles
“She was busy fighting!!”
Crimson responds
“Fighting you say…”
Venus travels behind crimson through the mirror which crimson immediately moves away from her
“More like she was busy….spiting. Hyperion made her feel the pain that they felt…”
Venus smiles

(Ajax pov)

I stand in front of everyone
“A broken heart can be mended…as the goddess of love I think you of all people should know that.”
Venus raised an eyebrow
“So may it be…”
Venus sighs as she looks at crimson
“Aren’t you a sweetheart coming along for the ride…”
Venus smiles
“Ajax is right though…I remember Blair telling me about Valencia…Lilith could still try to mend things with her.”
Crimson adds
“…”
Venus looks at Eros
“This isn’t my trial mother…”
Is all Eros said
“I sense something in you…”
Venus says roaming around crimson
“You are willing to do what it takes to make sure Lilith gets back home…”
“…”
“I just wonder how far you’ll go for someone you love.”
Venus places her hands on crimson’s shoulders but he pulls away
“I can’t let her suffer like this…why do you think I’m here. I want to help her.”
Venus gives a blank look
“Would you be willing to even lose your life to help I wonder…”
…
“Crimson…”
I mutter as he looks at Venus as he holds the feathered necklace to his chest
“…if that’s what it will take…”
Crimson sighs
“…you may pass…”

 

-CHALLANGE 4 COMPLETE-

Chapter 6: Hospitality or prison?

Summary:

The final part of level one appears

The god of hospitality

(Location: eridia lounge)
(Ajax pov)

“Crimson…”
“I meant what I said Ajax…”
Crimson responds quietly…
“…”
“You guys just go ahead…I believe we’re nearing the end of the first few trials…”
Crimson says as he sits down
“…”
“Let’s go…”

 

*DING!*

 

(Location: Icarus’s home)
(Ajax pov)

We arrived in the realm in more comfy outfits…almost pj like
“I love whoever gave me this…”
I turn to vex who had a tank top with a cat on it
“Why thank you. accommodate to everyone’s needs”
We turn to see a man with red hair and pale red eyes with light pale red eridian markings, he wore a bow tie on his neck with a black and red outfit, he also wore fancy glasses and he had a lantern like tail
“Come take a seat all of you.”
The god said with a warm smile as we take a sit
“Introductions right! I’m the god of hospitality, Icarus.”
He explains
“Before we start with this conversation can I get you all something to drink?”
“Uh…maybe some tea?”
Ava asks
“Of course!!”
Icarus heads over to a small stove
“You seem pretty nice?”
Zephyr ask
“Well as the god of hospitality the least I could do is offer a beverage before we start!”
“Well thank you…”
Ava responds as he hands all of us a cup of tea
“Shall we start?”
Icarus asks as he sits down
“Yes, if we could,god of hospitality…”
I ask…
“Please tell me why I should help get Lilith free…perhaps na’tu needs company so why shouldn’t we give it a chance…”
Icarus gave a calm smile as he takes a sip from his cup
“With na’tu you know she’ll never be alone-“
“That’s not how it is…”
I look over at Ava

(Ava pov)

I stood up from my seat
“She needs to get free from na’tu.”
“But-“
“She needs to go back home!”
I exclaimed as icarus had a quiet look
“From everything I know from epitaph from Roland and the others…Lilith will just feel more alone with na’tu and just grow tired!”
“So she’s only home back on Pandora…?”
“Yes! You’re getting it!!”
I sigh In relief
“…”
He turns to the small fireplace in the dark red and black room
“Her siblings are waiting too…Lucifer.”
He immediately looked up at Icarus
“You’ve been dying to see your sister again after all this time..the last time you saw her she was…not feeling great.”
“Yes…but me and Blair aren’t the only ones trying to get her back home.”
Lucifer explains
“Roland…am I correct?”
“…”
Lucifer looked straight into Icarus’s eyes with confidence as if he wants to encourage Icarus to agree
“I’m not one to get into this kinda stuff…but Roland has been gone for 10 years because of a coma but lost his memory even after he got it back…after everything. He still chose to come back and now he’s here.”
Lucifer laughs as he moves away
“It’s funny…I barely knew the guy but the way he talks about Lilith…”
…
“Please Icarus…let us pass..”
Lucifer kneeled down before him as Icarus looked at him
“…you really care about your sister…”
“Yes…and I think you know she doesn’t deserve this fate…she should be on Pandora with everyone…that’s her home…na’tu only wants power, not a friend.”
Lucifer continued as Icarus nods
“You may pass…get her back safely.”

 

-LEVEL 1 COMPLETE!!-

 

*DING!*

(Location: chione’s kingdom)
(Crimson’s pov)

…!
“What the hell?”
…
This doesn’t feel like the right realm…
“HELLO TRIAL GOERS-“
A person appeared they had white hair with light blue fades with a feather and Gem in hair, they wore a fluffy cloak and their eyes were a light blue but no pupils
“I thought there were more of you…”
She frowns as she observed me
“Wait…I know you!!”
Huh?
“You do?”
“Yes! You tried helping that kid in the snow but…”
She frowns
“Please don’t remind me of that…”
“Right, that one is a bit touchy…”
Chione thinks
“Well I do know you as one of Tina’s guardians so that works.”
…better than the last one
“Let’s get you somewhere relaxed and we’ll wait for the others!”

 

-TBC-

Chapter 7: Walking in a winter kingdom

Summary:

The new level begins

Our first challenge is the Demi goddess of snow, Chione

(Location: eridia lounge)
(Zephyr pov)

We went back to the lounge and saw Hestia standing with a worried look
“Hestia?”
“Soo small problem…”
She laughs nervously
“What is it…?”
Lucifer looked at Hestia
“…crimson is already on the next level..”
“WHAT?!”
We exclaimed
“No worries!! I already had it adjusted so you guys can meet him in Chione’s kingdom!!”
Hestia continued to explain
“Just ring the bell…”
I nod as I walk over

 

*DING!*

(Location: Chione’s kingdom)

 

We got sent to a kingdom just filled with ice and snow, we all got more attire that suits the snowy weather
“Trial goers!!!”
We look to see what we guessed was Chione and crimson beside her
“Crimson!!”
I exclaim as we rushed over
“Now that everyone is here. Shall we start!?”
Chione smiles
“Sure..”
“Follow me!!”
We followed the goddess of snow into an arena…this is odd…do we have to discuss here
“So here’s the deal! I agreed to do this so agnar wouldn’t kill you guys, so let’s play a game!”
“A game?”
“That’s what I’m doing. And if you win you’ll get what your yearning! Passage.”
She explains as she hops on a small little cloud
“Deal.”
I respond as everyone else agrees
“Take a look around the arena! There will be multiple of my little snow people. All you gotta do is fight and survive and then you may pass!”
She spins around on the little cloud
“Sounds too easy…what’s the catch?”
Crimson asks as all Chione does and gives a laugh
“I don’t wanna ruin the surprise!”
She floats up to a chair
“Good luck!”
*woosh!*
We saw multiple snow people, possibly created by Chione charging at us. Crimson grabs his gun
“Let’s just…”
*BANG!*
…the fire out of crimson’s gun did nothing
“Oh-“
“My little snow fellas don’t get effected by fire!!”
Shit…
“Shit!”
Crimson immediately pulls out a Jakobs pistol
*BANG!*
“There we go!!”
Chione chuckles. So I could only use normal attacks or something that isn’t fire…
*WOOSH!*
I summon a corrosive cat almost like vex’s cat
“Vex! Can you bring trouble out?”
“Sure as hell can!”
*WOOSH!*
Trouble gets summoned
“Go get them tigers!!”
I smile as I start to throw a phase blast at Chione’s snow fellas as she described them
“Zephyr!! DUCK!”
I quickly move down
*SLASH!*
I look up to see a dark purple and pink shadowy figure as it fades away
“Thank you!”
I nod as I stand back up. I gesture my hand to help crimson out
*BAM!*
My cat claws at the snow fella
“HELL YEAH!”
I smile
“I’m pulling this asshole near you! Go wild!”
Vex has a snow fella by a energy like rope and tosses the enemy towards me, I prepare my hand
*WOOSH!*
“WOAH!”
My hand made an energy like claw which stabbed through the snow fella’s head
“Damn!! Sick move there zeph!”
Vex laughs as she continued to shoot at snow fellas. I quickly gesture the cat to help zephyr
“GET THEM!!”
I smile as the cat tears into the snow being
“Thanks!”
I nod at Paris. I quickly notice a snow fella behind me
*CHOMP*
I sink my teeth into the snow fella with a corrosive bite as I pull away the fella started to melt
*STAB*
I saw crimson stab a snow fella in the chest and move away quick to the next snow fella as Ava phaselocks the snow fellas and uses a corrosive or slag effect on them…there weren’t that many left
“Pause!!”
We turn to see Chione float down on the cloud
“…”
“…”
“Hehehehe”
She chuckles
“This was fun and you definitely proved yourselves!!”
She smiles as she falls backwards on the cloud
“Let them pass!!!”

 

-CHALLENGE 6 COMPLETED!-

Chapter 8: The woods of the huntress

Summary:

The team is immediately thrown into the woods of the goddess of hunt

(Location: heveria’s woods)
(Jane’s pov)

That was sudden being sent here…our outfits give off almost a old styled hunter design
“Don’t love that I only have bandages here”
Crimson observed the bandages under the dark pale red and black outfit he wore with one arm covered with bandages showing the visible tattoo and burn marks
“Where is the-“
*WOOSH!*
“AHH!”
“HOLY SHIT-“
Tannis and zephyr exclaimed as an arrow was shot at a tree, we turn to see a goddess stand in front of us, her hair black with a light pale green fade with green sclera for eyes with pale blue diamond eyes with freckles and mint green eridan markings along with pointy ears and fangs, her outfit was just bandages with a pale green and blue pointed dress and she had a pale green necklace that was on her neck and a blade on her arm like Ajax
“This must a god of hunt.”
Crimson responds looking around
“Why should I care about this…ploy…?”
She glares as she put the bow behind her back
“Shes only a mortal siren…”
She turned away
“Sirens only get other mortals killed…with so many hunters absent..we might be better off with those threats of life…”
She continued with a cold tone in her voice
“…your name?”
The goddess looked at Tannis with a confused look
“Heveria…”
She respond with her defenses still up
“…vault hunters always tend to go…even when it seems like it isn’t their time.”
Tannis frowns…it’s odd seeing her like this. Crimson also described her as someone who had their guard up…not easy to reach
“I’ve seen it a few times…I’ve seen people lose their lives on Pandora…vault hunters are no different.”
“I’m aware vault hunters go down…but there’s always a siren nearby…”
Tannis sighs, heveria is not easy to get through it seems
“Not even sirens are immune goddess of hunt…we lost a siren not too long ago…before Lilith disappeared…”
Tannis crosses her arms
“All we ask is for your assistance…heveria.”
Tannis looked up at heveria who had a curious look
*woosh!*
“TANNIS!!!”
*BAM!*
We froze as we saw almost a electric like shield above Tannis…possibly made of phase energy like zephyr or the others
“…”
“…why?!”
Tannis quietly exclaimed
“…you are as sturdy as the might of skagberus…”
Heveria moves away
“Travel onward…”
I sigh
“Thank you…”

(Tannis pov)

…that’s a relief and also now I’m terrified…I see heveria kneel down as the others start to head off
“Keep an eye on animal siren…”
Did she mean zephyr? Why would I need to keep an eye on him?
“Zephyr?”
“…he good siren but…shouldn’t exist.”
“What do you mean shouldn’t exist exactly?”
I stand up
“7th siren was a fault by superiors…power shouldn’t have been born.”
Heveria explained
…
…
…
So the 7th siren was a error? That means zephyr’s powers shouldn’t even exist…nor his powers…

-CHALLENGE 7 COMPLETE-

Chapter 9: A basilisk’s reprisal of a queen

Summary:

The next trial seems not to be of a god but a queen…of basilisks

(Location: Cordelia’s throne room)
(Crimson pov)

We entered a throne room with coral and light blue tiles with dark pale blue tiles also with water on the sides where we stood
“…is this the right area?”
Jane asks…it’s empty which is concerning but confusing
“Roland, could I talk to you over here?”
I looked over at Tannis
“Sure?”
I follow Tannis away from the others…something clearly was up
“What’s going on?
“…I wouldn’t go to you about this but since you are basically zephyr’s mentor I think I should bring it up with you…”
What’s wrong with zephyr? Why would Tannis have something on him
“What’s going on..?”
She sighs
“Before we left heveria’s woods she told me something about zephyr’s powers…”
She looked over at zephyr who was talking to vex and Paris as they looked at the coral decoration
“Roland…the 7th siren shouldn’t exist…heveria said his powers were an error from some higher ups…”
…what.
Zephyr’s powers were a mistake…? So zephyr got powers that shouldn’t exist…
“Are you sure about this?”
“This came from a god! What am I suppose to think?!”
She exclaimed
“Hey calm down!”
“WOAH!”
I got dragged into the water…I look around…the water was a dark blue but light remained, I look down and saw that there was no ground like the place was completely bottomless
*CHOMP!*
“AGHH!!”
I get a glance at the stranger that bite into my shoulder, it was a basilisk but this one of was different then the usual basilisks that were spotted…this one had long red hair with dark blue streaks with pearl headwear with a light blue gem in the middle and her eyes were completely black
*WHACK!*
I managed to kick her away and I saw she wore a pearl necklace with pale dark red dress with bandage wraps on her arms
“Cordelia…that’s the name of who just bit your arm”
I grab my gun
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
I tried shooting at Cordelia but she was a quick swimmer
“You killed some of my loyal basilisks so…I must do what I do for my kingdom…and my father.”
*BAM!*
Cordelia charges at me, I keep trying to keep her away from the bleeding wounds as I noticed she carried a small sickle
“YOU ENTERED OUR OCEANS TO CLAIM OUR LIVES!!”
*STAB!*
“LET GO!!”
“NOT UNTIL MY PEOPLE GET VENGENCE SAILOR!!”
I try pulling the sickle off but it was jammed into my chest

(Zephyr pov)

*SPLASH!*
C’mon crimson…where is…
I spot him fighting a basilisk!
I quickly swim over and pull the basilisk away!
“Oh the 7th siren!! what a surprise!”
Cordelia laughs
*CHOMP!*
“GAH!”
I felt her teeth sink into my arm
*BAM!*
I headbutt the side of heard and moved-
“Where did the kid go?!”
She couldn’t see me anymore?
…I looked at my hands and noticed I was invisible…almost like a stalker weirdly enough…I swim around and throw a phase blast before she could attack crimson
“Queen Cordelia!!”
I turned to see where the sound came from…the basilisk crimson spared…”
“This man means no harm! He spared our lives…it was another basilisk that tried to attack them! It was in self defense!”
“…oh-“
She glared at crimson as I got rid of the invisibility that covered my body
“What about my father then…?”
She wondered
“Self defense also!”
“He blinded a child!!”
“HE WHAT?!”
She exclaims as she dragged both myself and crimson up to shore
“Let them pass! I need to have a chat with my father!”
…there’s only one person that could be Cordelia’s father

 

(Location: eridia’s lounge)
(Lucifer pov)

Everyone relaxed for a moment, I saw crimson go to the medical area, I end up following him
“Heyyy crimson! We’re over here-“
I observed the bleeding on his shoulder and chest
“Yikes…”
“It’s not a big deal…just grabbing some bandages to wrap up these-“
Wait just wrapping them up?! No antibiotics or water?
“No biotics or stuff?”
“We’re on borrowed time…we need to rest up and get patched up so we can finish the challanges and-“
“Sit down.”
I blankly say
“What?”
“I’m taking a look at those injuries and patching them up…”
I respond. Crimson looked like he wanted to argue but sighs as he sits down
“Alright…I’m going to grab supplies…take off your shirt so I can properly look at the bite wound…”
“…fine..”
I went towards one of the storage compartments and grabbed some cloth,antibiotics,and stitching tools. I think I have some water in my bag. I turn back to crimson who had his eyes focused on what seems like the stitching tools
“Something wrong?”
“…no.”
I sit down as I start to clean the wounds
“Alright tell me…you don’t enjoy stitches I’m guessing?”
I ask
“It’s not that…just…my echo eye…that wasn’t there before, my eye got stitched up by Petra.”
…I guess this was after he got the burn marks. Cause I know well enough he had two eyes
“…must’ve sucked..”
“Yeah…I was freaked out back then…now that I think about it maybe Petra wasn’t entirely great…sure she got me out of control core but…”
He stopped himself as I clean the blood off his shoulder, I walk over to the front…it’s so weird seeing crimson like this. Half of his body had healed burn scars and I looked at the old gunshot wound…the one that “killed” him…he had multiple other scars along with the fresh wound from Cordelia’s sickle. I start cleaning the blood off
“You aren’t the talkative type are ya.”
“…yeah….seems like the opposite for you.”
He mutters…he clearly didn’t entirely like me, which I get that…his first impression of me was me giving him a memory Crystal of my sister’s final moments so I guess he’d have a right to dislike me
“…I know I didn’t give you the best first impression I just wanna know if the whole memory Crystal thing was adding any tension.”
I explain as I started using antibiotics on the wounds
“What?”
“Well you just kinda teleported me away after the whole giving you my sister’s final moments in the memory Crystal.”
Crimson quietly perked up
“Oh yeah…I forgot I did that…”
He responds
“…I get why you did it…I was just not exactly in the greatest mood when it happened.”
He continued but I notice him freeze up as I grabbed the stitching tools
“…”
I can tell he was nervous…as if I was gonna stitch his eye up again
“You can trust me with needles…trust me the amount of times I had to clean up injuries for Lilith before I became a mercenary as a lot”
I laugh as I start with stitching
“Did you now?”
“Absolutely! I mean yeah the Lilith you knew was maybe a little bit full of herself and filled with confidence but she was reckless as a kid!”
Crimson laughs at the comment I made
“What was she like before you left for full on mercenary?”
Huh…he’s curious now
“You’re curious?”
“I mean…Lilith never mentioned her childhood that much just the small things…just that she wasn’t exactly liked cause of her tattoos and the fact that she played bunkers and badasses”
I sigh as I finish stitching up the wound
“Yeah…back then it was just me and her against the world…even when I started my mercenary work I managed to make time back then.”
…wish I stuck around more
“After dad died I just was trying to support everyone with my mercenary job so I barely had the time to visit…”
I explain
“…I get that..”
Now that I think about childhood…I wonder what vault hunter Lilith was like…I mean I checked in a few times from afar but I don’t exactly know
“So! What was vault hunter Lilith like?”
“Huh?”
“C’mon I told you about the past! The least you could do is tell me about the great firehawk when she was a vault hunter!”
I smile
“Alright just give me a moment…”
He thinks for a moment
“Well the first few words you said are right but…she was also clever and she was somewhat good with words I guess.”
I finish wrapping up the wound in a bandage wrap
“Well she’s tough…you know I tried challenging her to a duel once.”
“You?!”
“Yeah…well clearly I lost but it was…she’s incredible!”
I laugh…well she did learn from the best
“Well you can tell who she learned from…I remember telling her about vaults back then…hell even I attempted in a hunt.”
“A hunt?”
“Few other mercenaries…but that’s a story for another time.”
I laugh as I toss him his shirt
“You know…maybe if we got to meet back then I feel like we would’ve been good friends.”
“…yeah…”
He grabs his jacket and lilith’s necklace off the table
“…let’s finish these trials and get you and Blair’s sister back…”
“You act like you’re scared to see her…”
“Nonsense! Let’s go Lucifer!”

-CHALLENGE 8 COMPLETE-

Chapter 10: Party of your life

Summary:

The final challenge
of level 2: the god of parties!!

(Location: amarone’s gathering)
(Zephyr pov)

Loud music plays through the room, multiple people…some not even human partying
“GOD DAMN IT!!”
Tannis places her hands over her head
“Tannis?!”
“I don’t wanna talk about it! Just find the god and finish the damn job!!”
She exclaimed
“Alright!”
I walk around trying to move through everyone
“Wow…”
The area was full of multiple purple lights mixed with multiple color with the wall having a beige tiled wall
“Hey Paris!”
“Yeah?”
“Dance with me!”
“Huh? But what about the god?”
“Just for a moment!”
I laugh as I pull him in my arms and spin him around a bit
“Woah!”
“Sorry it’s just so fun in here!!”
Paris starts to laugh
“Alright!”
Paris adds as he dips me down and
“Woah!!
He quickly pulls me up
“VAULT GOERS!!”
I turn to see what I guess is the god we must face, I kept Paris in my arms
“LORD AMARONE!!”
The crowd shouted, the god had long tied up light beige hair with violet highlights that went with his glasses and wings, he wore a gray and violet turtleneck and beige fur scarf hanging below his shoulders
“HAVE A DRINK EVERYONE!!”
He laughs as he places drinks in everyone’s hand
“The great Lilith! Such a strong and powerful woman but how does one fall from grace when losing her powers!!”
He appears behind crimson which causes him to quickly move away
“Ever since she arrived on Pandora she has faced a variety of enemies but now she’s all alone!”
We turn to see him on a violet couch with gold on it doing a cat like stretch as he lays down up above
“How the mighty have fallen, am I right people?”
Hm…that’s certainly not true!!
“Lord amarone!!”
He moved his glasses up a little
“Even without her powers she still used her mind to continue surviving!!”
I arrive at where he laid as he looked up at me
“And think about what would’ve happened if she didn’t stop elpis from tearing Pandora apart!! How would you have your parties then?!”
I exclaim
“…”
“Yooo eris!”
“What?! Amarone?! Do we pass?!”
“Huh? Oh yeah sure.”

 

- LEVEL 2 COMPLETE-

Chapter 11: Ch 0.10: the sacrifices of being leader

Summary:

???

(Location: sanctuary 2)
(Lilith pov)

God…that took a lot of energy to get sanctuary away…now we have another problem though. Maya and the others are missing and we still don’t have the vault key…
“Are you feeling ok?”
I look up to see Roland just turning to me as he stands beside the holo map…I thought zed said he should be resting
“What are you doing? Zed said you're supposed to be resting…”
I asked
“I’m fine…zed said it was nothing serious..”
Roland explains…avoiding my gaze. I obviously didn’t trust what he was saying
“Are you sure? You took a pretty hard hit from those rocks-“
“I said I’m fine.”
…
I cross my arms and sigh
“Clearly not. I get we’re on borrowed time finding the vault key and stopping jack…I could take over for a bit and you can rest.”
“Lilith..-“
“Just until you recover! I’m here to help!”
“You also need rest too…”
…
Wait…
“Roland.”
“Hm?”
“When was the last time you slept?”
…
“What?”
“When was the last time you got proper sleep?”
I repeated myself as he just looks away as I moved closer
“…few days maybe…”
…
He better be joking…
“You gotta be fucking with me..”
“I’m sorry?-“
“A few days?!”
“I’ve been busy-“
“You call neglecting sleep busy?!”
“I need to be alert now! After everything that just happened we can’t take chances like that!”
“You aren’t helping anyone like this if you’re too exhausted to think straight!”
“Lilith! We have hyperion shooting bombs at us, in case you haven’t noticed!”
“Besides the point! you are putting yourself at risk…not only that you are just being an idiot and ignoring common sense!”
“I’m being practical…I have to look out for everyone. I can’t worry about myself now.”
…god there’s no getting to him…
“You won’t be able to look out for anyone if you’re dead!-“
“I can handle-“
“DAMN IT ROLAND WILL YOU JUST LISTEN FOR ONCE?! YOU AREN’T INVINCIBLE!!”
“I’m not gonna let this stop me! I don’t need you lecturing me on this so just leave it be!!”
…
“…”
“…”
…it’s clear my advice was no good in this situation
“Lilith I…”
“It’s whatever…”
…
“lil-“
“I’m going to make sure everything is running okay…and since my advice isn’t helping us…you can try and contact the vault hunters and see what can be done…”
I responded blankly
“…”
“…ok..”

 

(Roland pov)

 

…
…
…
…
…
I’m sorry

Chapter 12: Ch 11: death by beauty

Summary:

Level 3 starts and we encounter a goddess of beauty, another bird sister, Freya!

(Location: eridia lounge)
(Crimson pov)

…
…
…
“Hey crim!!”
I perk up to look at Lucifer and zephyr
“We’re about to go to the next level! Are you ready?”
Lucifer smiles
…
We’re already on the final level of these trials…can’t believe we’re this close. But it’s clear it’s not gonna be easy
“Yeah go get everyone and ring the bell…”
…I look at the necklace that hung on my neck
…
…
…
Don’t worry Lilith…
…
…
I promise once this all blows over…we’ll talk and make up for lost time
…
…
I hold the necklace to my chest
“…I promise…”

*DING!*

(Location: freya’s throne room)
(Crimson pov)

Lots of wings here…the room had a pale blue scheme with a green tiling on the floor
*WOOSH!*
*SQUARK!!*
“Hello darlings…”
We turn to the stairs which revealed a tall goddess, her hair an oak red brown color in a bun, she had a dark blue and pale green feather accessory that matched her feathered ears and tail like a peacock, she wore a gold choker and a pale blue tree with a bit of pale green, her eyes were a ocean blue with dark blue eyeshadow
“So many tales of sirens traveling on Pandora!”
She exclaims as she travels down the stairs to meet us and looks down at us
“Gimme one good reason why this siren should prevail!”
She laughs as she points at us with feathers shooting at us
“AH!”
“YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!”
“I GOT IT!!”
Ava summoned a phase lock as me and zephyr moved away
“We got this! Just keep the others safe!”
I exclaim as zephyr tries to stop the feathers
“Well Lilith is pretty smart!”
“Try harder darling!”
“OW!”
One of the feathers hits my arm…she’s not going down easy…
“She’s umm pretty skilled with words?”
“Do better than that!”
*WOOSH!*
“Missed-“
“OW!”
The moment I say that…it hits the side of my face
“She’s funny?”
“Ehh”
*WOOSH!*
“STOP HITTING US WITH FEATHERS WHAT OTHER REASONS CAN WE GIVE?!”
“Figure it out, love!”
She’s not giving me anything, me and zephyr continued dodging her feathered necklace. I notice she wasn’t in front of us, I turn to see her behind zephyr
“ZEPHYR!”
I push zephyr out of the way
*BAM!*
“GAH!”
I was thrown towards a wall by her arm which became a sharp claw with resorts back to normal as she walks over towards me and looks at me as she looks at the necklace and lifts it up with my hand
“How cute…”
I see her hand turn into a claw again
“SHIT!”
*BAM!*
I move away quickly from her and look back at her claw which destroyed a part of the wall…
…
I notice lilith’s necklace in her clawless hand and look back at my neck…shit
“Such a lovely item you have darling…gimme the reason along with fighting me and I might just give it back…”
…
*WOOSH!*
*CLINK!*
*BAM!*
I use my robot arm as a shield to try and avoid getting hit with her feathers
“She’s a brave leader?!”
“Yawn…”
“Gah!”
I felt the feather cut my face again…just what were these feathers made of that she was using…c’mon there has to be something that I can use to get her to listen
“She’s clever! She’s charming! She stood up against Rai and went against him! She-“
“Wait wait wait…”
I pause as I look at her
“What was that last part?”
“…she stood up to Rai?”
I respond
“…”
“…”
“No one ever goes against Rai and you mean to tell me she told him to back off?”
“…yeah?”
She gave a small smirk as she tossed the necklace back to me
“You may pass…good luck with them if I dare say…”
She says walking back to her bed
“…”
I look at Ava dropping her bubble…I look back at the necklace
“…”
I quickly snap out of my thoughts
“Let’s go…we’re getting close.”
“Hold on! I have a question for…”
“Freya…the goddess of beauty.”
Beauty huh… not exactly showing in the attitude
“By any chance are you connected to the goddess of fire and goddess of beauty?”
Tannis asks
“My sisters…why yes..”
She seems familiar for some reason
“Quit pissing gods off…”
…shes the one that stopped agnar from killing me and Mordecai…now I know why she seems familiar
“I’m not doing that…”
I sigh

-CHALLENGE 10 COMPLETE-

Chapter 13: Ch 12: a broken crown

Summary:

The vault hunters meet the god of leadership and he believes this leadership is blinded and weak

(Location: Achilles lair)
(Crimson’s pov)

 

…
…
“Roland…vault hunters..”
We both jump to see the god we must face….he had dark pale red hair with a light fade with antlers pointing out, his sclera a pale blue with faded pale blue diamond eyes…his eridian markings acted more like scars on both of his eyes and he had a bit of a stubble on his face and wore a red headband on his head, he wore a pale dark red uniform with a pale dark blue connected to the sleeves and a pale light blue cloak…his legs were basically paws…almost like how swara and Elysia was
“…Achilles…god of leadership…”
Leadership…I’ll be damned
“Lilith…she’s blind with her leadership…but you…”
I look up in confusion
“You left your friend…while yes it kept her safe…it still led to this when you could’ve helped. Why should I help when you couldn’t try….?”
…
..little bit of a sting there…but he’s not wrong
“…”
I take a deep breath
“As your title as the god of leadership, you’ve seen groups at odds…leaders like yourself bring a group back to the main goal and give them hope…”
I looked away
“But now we need your help now….to help Lilith get back to Pandora.”
I continued as Achilles looked at me with a quiet look
“…you’ve grown wiser…”
…it’s funny.
I don’t feel any wiser than I did when I was commander, even now…Achilles was wrong about that
“…you may pass…

Chapter 14: Ch 13: a mending memory

Summary:

A strange realm has been entered and you see the goddess of memory and the god of time

(Location: Persephone and Sorius’s realm)
(Zephyr pov)

 

This realm was different then the other gods we faced…the room was a dark pale blue almost like the night and there were white crystals hanging on the ceiling and I noticed rows of memory crystals on a holder and orbs floating around.
There’s almost a feeling of peace in this realm…
“You made it…”
We notice a light figure standing…she had long white hair with a white hat that held light blue flowers and a clear veil, I saw a glimpse of one of her eyes…all white with a faded yellow for an eye…her dress white and a sky blue and her legs had a white gradient connected
“I’m the goddess of memory…Persephone.”
She turns to us properly
“That woman first left her home to become a vault hunter…and then that led to her being a commander…I wonder if that was how it was always going to be…”
She spoke calmly as she observed the orb
“Who knows what would’ve happened…that’s multiple what ifs…but this is the what if we live in now…”
I respond softly
“He’s right…”
We look up to see what looks like another god…he was almost inhuman unlike the other gods…his color scheme and long braided hair matched the wall’s color, with a star like crown and a horn and only one damaged wing…his hands were claws and he wore a cloak and one leg was a gradient but the other was almost a black slime…the strangest part was his right eye…it was a amalgamation of eyes with the other just being dark with a gradient eye…he also had a bit of stubble
…
“I understand why you are all here…we both do…”
I look up at the god
“…the god of time…sorius.”
Persephone explains
“…we know Lilith wants to go back home as much as you guys want her to as well…”
I’m not sure i understand where they are getting at
“I’m not sure I follow what you're saying…”
I respond
“…we’re asking you to go…you have one more trial to face and the gods will be sure to help you…”
My eyes widened…it was that easy?
“Just like that…?
Crimson mutters
“…yes.”
Sorius walked over towards crimson
“I would think you would know how much she wanted to go back…to try and see you again before polities-“
“Please…I don’t need a reminder…”
Crimson sighs at the response as Sorius just moves away
“I understand…just know that.”
He looked over at Persephone as she nods
“Let them pass…”

-CHALLENGE 12 COMPLETE-

Chapter 15: Ch 14: fate foretold

Summary:

The final challenge, but the difficulty grows as you meet the god of prophecy

(Location: Apollo’s rock)
(Zephyr’s pov)

The area we entered was dark and filled with stones…the area was basically a cave…we look up to see a figure stand on the rocky pillar we stood, the figure had teal tied up hair with a white fade and a light green wreath, the eyes teal with white star like pupils and the right eye having a teal crack like scar…like something broke them…their outfit and dress was also teal with some blue,pale violet, and a gradient blue fade on the dress.
I wonder if this is swara’s brother…
“Are you Apollo?”
I ask quietly
“…yes…”
He responded quietly
“…ok?”
I look back at the others
“This is starting to freak me out…”
Vex looks around
“No kidding…”
Ajax adds
“It’s alright guys…just handle this and then we have smooth sailing.”
Lucifer smiled as I turned back to Apollo
“…you do realize my prophet foretold lilith’s fate…”
…I’m sorry?
“…she should’ve left the prophet alone…or perhaps went with rai’s agreement…this whole thing is solely on her…”
“Now hold-“
“Apollo!”
We turn to see Angel softly land on the rock
“I’m sorry but I must intervene…”
She sighs as she turns to Apollo
“You know Rai wasn’t playing fair when he threw polities into this mix to kill Lilith just cause she didn’t wanna kill Roland!”
“Rai was being tactical-“
“That’s wasn’t tactical…he was just petty cause a mortal told him to fuck off…”
Angel shot a glare at Apollo which caused him to freeze
“…”
“…”
“…let them pass…”

-CHALLENGE 13 COMPLETE-

Chapter 16: Ch 15: a gods betrayal

Summary:

With the trials complete now they must report back to Cain

(Location: eridia’s court)
(Zephyr Pov)

 

“We played your games Cain!!”
I exclaim as we all look at Cain and the other gods who sat on their own throne
“We got through your trials! Help us with Lilith!”
I continued
“So you have…”
Cain was in thought for a moment
“…”
“We had a deal-“
“Oh I know I know…and I tend to keep my word…but there’s one more thing I need one of you to do…”
What…one of us?
*snap!*
…
Na’tu…
Na’tu still had control of Lilith and just gives a wave
“Someone needs to fight…and you all have the final say…”
…if someone went in there’s a chance they may not survive, I look at the others
“…I’m going-“
“Zephyr-“
“This isn’t a discussion crimson.”
“yes it is and I say you aren’t going.”
“I’m a siren! I might have a better chance at stopping na’tu-“
“Zephyr, na’tu has control of Lilith…a siren who has more experience on the field! Especially now…if you go out there you might die!”
“It’s better than the others! And maybe I won’t die, yeah na’tu has a siren who might be stronger than me but I still have an advantage!”
I glared at crimson who shot a glare back and stands down
“…fine just one thing..”
I perk up
“What is-“
*WOOSH!*

 

(Crimson pov)

I push zephyr away and enter the battle zone which had a force field surrounding the area
“ROLAND!!”
Zephyr calls out
“I started this…I need to end it…”
“This is insane!!”
Paris bangs on the shield
…
I turn to na’tu
“Hello…Roland.”
Na’tu smiles
“…”
I grab my gun
“Before I kill you…tell me.”
Na’tu smile revealed fangs
“How does it feel knowing the person you were searching for is already gone?”
…she’s not gone. Not if I can help it, but I can’t just kill them…
“I can tell she’s not gone.”
I point my gun at them, which causes them to shrug
“Alright…”
*WOOSH!*
I dodge na’tu’s claw attack and I summon Scorpio with my arm…glad gaige added that feature
“Take your best shot asshole…”
I glare
“Very well!”
*BAM!*
I use my arm to attempt to block na’tu’s claw
*BAM!*
I kick na’tu away, I see them use phase walk
“Shit!”
…alright I can do this…I throw a grenade on the ground
*BOOM!*
“HISSSS”
*WOOSH!*
I keep moving away
“DO SOME DAMAGE COWARD!!”
“HIT ME ALL YOU WANT I'M NOT KILLING YOU!!”
“VERY WELL!”
*BOOM!*
“GAH!”
Na’tu threw a fire bolt at me…I looked at the blood that started to spill a bit…I can’t go down.
*BAM!*
I tackle na’tu, with my gun in hand
“This is fun!! I haven’t had a challenge like this in ages!!”
*WHACK!*
I whack na’tu with my gun as I rush towards Scorpio to try and heal myself
“Oh no you don’t!”
*BOOM!*
“Oof!”
I was thrown back at the firebolt na’tu sent at Scorpio which caused it to disappear…healing isn’t an option
“GRENADE!”
I throw as I quickly run away
*BOOM!*
“SHIT!!”
Na’tu hissed as I notice the slag acid sinking in…luckily I built the grenade mod to have just enough slag to weaken someone’s defenses
“ALRIGHT THATS ENOUGH!”
“IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?!”
I laugh
“IM ENDING THIS! NOW!!”
*BOOM!!*
…
…

(Zephyr pov)

 

…a firebolt struck down on crimson…I see him lying in a pool of his own blood…the burn scars almost growing and his robot arm damaged
“…”
“Is he dead…”

 

(???)
(???)

“This was the third time you tried to fight me.”
Lilith gives a laugh
“What can I say…it was worth a shot.”
“Yeah well you got close but you need more practice.”
“I was just caught in a weak moment..”
“Uh huh…”
I dust myself off
“Well you definitely surprised me the third time…could’ve won there.”
“Well…not likely if I tried three times…”
“Well like you mentioned you gotta get someone in a weak moment.”
“Well it’s kinda hard since you don’t really have a weak moment.”
I explain, Lilith just takes my hat
“Who knows…maybe you’ll find it one day.”
She laughs as she places my hat back on my head
“…”
“Anyways Mordecai found a mission we gotta do…let’s go..”
…
“Alright”

 

(Crimson pov)
(Location: eridia’s court)

…a moment of weakness.
…
That’s all I need…I look at the knife in my hand
…
I slowly stand back up, limping
“Really? You want more? I thought that bolt would’ve been a lesson enough!”
I laugh as I grab my gun with my other hand
“You are gonna have to try harder than that to put me down killer…”
*BANG!*
“EEP!”
“Try dodging literal fire chump…”
”I see how it is…”
*BAM!*
I move as quick as I can to not get hit by the fire bolts…if my shield can just recharge then I have an opportunity
*BANG!*
“GAH!”
I managed to shoot na’tu in the shoulder…I need to be careful and make sure the gun doesn’t kill them…I just need to weaken na’tu and try and reach out
“You are chasing a hopeless dream crimson!”
“Then I’ll die still holding onto the hopeless dream if it means you’re gone!!”
*BAM!*
“AGH!”
I felt the fire bolt pierce me again…I’m so close. I keep moving closer to na’tu
“What the hell are you doing?! Do you have a death wish now?!”
He laughs
“…maybe..”
…
I wrap my arms around na’tu…I felt the fire of the body na’tu was controlling burning into my skin…like an acid touch..but I won’t let go
“What is this?!”
Na’tu hisses
…
…
Forgive me
*STAB!*
“AGHHHH!!!”
I quickly move away as the knife as stuck in na’tu
“YOU BASTARD!!! I’LL KILL YOU ON THE GROUND YOU STAND ON-“
…
…
…
…
Sorius quickly raised his hand up…almost using some sort of stunning method…I notice na’tu had a blank expression
“…what…?
“ROLAND!!”
I look over at zephyr and the others rushing over to me, sloane pulls out an anshin and stabs me with it
“…I stunned the firehawk with my ability…basically pausing movement almost like a sleep spell…but na’tu is not exactly conscious right now”
Sorius explained
“…”
So…that means na’tu isn’t in control right now
“I’m gonna see if I can separate the host from na’tu…”
“Hold on sorius…”
I look at zephyr
“Yes, young siren?”
“…so na’tu isn’t there at the moment…?”
“That’s correct.”
“…”
“Is there a way I could enter her mindscape with my abilities with crimson…just for a moment?”
“…”
…what?
“…of course…go ahead.”
Zephyr helps lift me up as we walk towards Lilith
“Zephyr…”
“Just trust me…this might be good for both of you…”
“…ok.”

-TBC-

Chapter 17: Ch 15: a soldier and a siren

Summary:

Crimson and zephyr meet the host

(Location: mindscape)
(Zephyr pov)

…
“This looks…peaceful..”
I respond softly
“This place…it’s like our place in New Haven…without the whole New Haven place…it’s just orange trees and sand…and a nice coral sky..”
Crimson mutters…he seems nervous…I know he won’t admit it
“It’s ok to be nervous you know…”
I respond with a smile
“I’m not nervous! Just…giving myself a moment.”
“Right…”
I chuckle
“You go ahead…I just need a few seconds..”
…
“Alright…don’t be too long though boss…”
He nods as he turns to the sky, I enter the building…I remember seeing Lilith and crimson’s place in New Haven but…it’s not like this but I get it…I turn to see someone just looking in thought…there’s no doubt this was Lilith but she was different then the one I saw…the Lilith crimson told me about…her hair was no longer a fiery red but a dark pale red…her outfit not torn but slightly dull with a brown jacket with fur with a green tank top underneath…I notice her siren tattoos were now a pale purple and not a basic blue like Tannis,Ava,or myself and she had multiple scars on her….her neck which was most likely from the collar and a healed scar on her eye
“Lilith…?”
She immediately snaps out of her thoughts and turns to me
“It’s ok! I’m not na’tu…”
I put my hands up and slowly moved them down as she just looks at me
“I don’t think we…officially met…I mean we did on epitaph but that wasn’t you…”
“…I remember..”
She spoke…her voice still quiet but still questioning
“I should introduce myself and explain…”
I dust myself off
“I’m zephyr…I’m a siren and a vault hunter like you…well not exactly a siren like you…I’m the seventh.”
I stop myself as I tried to think of how to phrase everything
“I work with crimson or…Roland to you…”
I explain…still nervous. God I hope I’m making a good impression of myself
“Crimson huh…”
“Yeah…little name change there but…he’s told me alot about you…and I saw some memory crystals about you…”
I explain
“He talked about me?”
“Yeah! He talked about all you guys…he talked about how you guys took down general knoxx…crawmerax…hell you guys even stopped a claptrap revolution!”
I smile as i noticed a small smile appear on lilith’s face
“Yeah…we did that…”
She smirks
“Oh my powers!”
She looked at me curious as I mentioned my powers
“Apparently my powers are phase tame…I can tame a creature with some sort of calm aura…though they've gotten pretty awesome as to the point I can mimic a creature’s ability and summon allusions of them!!”
I stop myself
“Sorry…it’s just I was hoping to meet you…I just recently met sirens like Tannis,Ava and vex! And now I’m meeting you!”
“…recently?”
I sigh
“…I didn’t know any other sirens before we arrived in the rest…I only heard things from crimson who…basically helped me out. He was the closest thing to a mentor I have! He basically told me the things he knew…”
I smile
“…I can only wonder what your life must’ve been killer…”
She sighs as she pats me on the head
“…that’s why I hope once we separate you from na’tu…I could learn a bit more…I wanna learn from everyone…so I could understand myself a bit more..”
She looked surprised but then smiled
“I could teach you a few skills from my set….I promise”
My smile widens.
“Really?!”
“Yeah! Give you tips and tricks once we’re outta here.”
“YAAAY!!”
I immediately hug Lilith but pull away
“Sorry sorry!!! I’m just excited, honestly this whole adventure has been exciting!!”
“I get it, don't worry kid.”
I sensed something…probably crimson entered
“I’ll be back…ok?”
She nods as I walk over to see crimson outside the small hall…I’m guessing he saw the whole thing
“…crimson?”
“…”
He almost looked stunned
“…sorry I’m just…”
He whispers
“Ten years…it doesn’t feel like much has changed…but it has but she just…”
He was having trouble finding the words
“Just go talk to her…”
“No I really shouldn’t zephyr…”
“But…you’ve wanted this for so long!”
“I know but….i'm not even sure she would even want to see me…”
“…just go…I’m gonna leave the mindscape, I’ll come back when it’s time.”
He nods
“Be safe…”

(Crimson pov)

I saw zephyr exit the building as I turned to the entrance of the other room. I quietly enter and then stopped myself
“…”
…just say what you need and if she doesn’t want you to stay then that’s fine…
…
Despite the changes she…she doesn’t look any different, I can still see her…
“…Lilith…”
She turns around…her eyes almost unreadable….but there’s surprise but there was something else
“…I just..I wanna talk, just for a moment..”
I responded. I try to keep my distance…the last thing I wanna do is make things worse.
“I just want to say…I’m sorry…”
She looked at me a with confused look
“I know anything I say won’t fix that and it won’t fix the fact that I basically just abandoned the raiders…”
I look towards the ground
“I know I wasn’t exactly around…maybe I could’ve done more about the eridium situation ... .and maybe I could’ve been wiser about the choices I made as commander…maybe then you wouldn’t have ended up here…”
…
“But I want you to know that leaving was never my intention. I wouldn’t have left if I had a choice or knew that…”
I stopped myself…trying hard not to break
“…I should’ve been there…for everyone…for you…”
…
…
It feels weird saying all this now…but it also feels right
“So…if you’d like me out of here and out of your life…you just say the word and I’ll be gone.”
…
…
The silence wasn’t helping…it just made me worry more on what she’ll say
“Or please just…say something…the silence is…it’s not helping.”
…
“…”
I felt her hands move to both sides of my face, my gaze finally met hers…there was no sign of na’tu but it’s strange…there was no anger or hatred in her eyes…I don’t get it.
She has every right to be angry but there isn’t any anger to be seen
“…”
“…you look…so different..”
I softly laugh at the comment
“Yeah…lots happened.”
“I can see that…”
….
“I didn’t think you would come back…”
She responds…I was about to place hand my over hers but stopped myself and moved my hand back down
“What made you think that…?”
I ask softly
“…I mean after I heard what happened I just thought…”
…
Shit the amnesia…
“I had my memories back for awhile now…when we got sent to the rest I learned there was a chance that you were still alive…”
…
“I thought you were dead…”
“…”
I look at lilith…there were tears in her eyes
“…Lilith?”
…shit
“Hey…are you ok-“
“Oof!”
I felt her arms immediately wrapped around me, enveloping me in a hug
“Lil?!”
I was surprised by this…then I just heard quiet sobs
“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry..”
…
“…I was being an idiot…that’s not on you..”
…she was only trying to help…but I just ignored that…god I feel stupid..
I play my head on top of hers
“Not just that…I mean everything that happened in control core..”
Right…
“There was nothing that could’ve been done…and honestly I should’ve seen it coming…”
I sigh.
I wish things were different in control core…I remember after I got my memories I wished things were different…that I wasn’t gone…but when I wake up…I’m back at the old base me,Petra and Laurent hid in
“You know…before I died I didn’t know who would lead the raiders after I was gone.”
I slowly pull away as I look at her…I’ve seen many things in my life but…this moment is one I will cherish…
“When I heard you ended up leading the raiders even after anything that’s happened…even after Jack was gone you kept everyone together as best as you could, I never felt prouder to consider you a commander.”
I rambled quite a bit then stopped myself
“…”
“…I’m happy to see you…I never thought we would talk like this again…”
Lilith smiles as she fiddles with the fabric of my jacket
“Loving the new look by the way…”
“Yeah…tried fitting with the whole mercenary design.”
“Mercenary?”
“Yeah, after we ended up at the rest I’ve been hanging out with the B team and just kinda became a member”
I explained, there was a soft laugh
“Well look at you. Seems like you are doing well!”
“Yeah a..a little bit.”
“…”
She had a frown on her face
“What’s wrong…?”
“…how’s Ava…?”
…
“She’s…seemed tired when I first saw her but…she’s doing her best.”
“…I’m glad.”
…
“I missed you too…might be weird for me to say but I really did…”
“…I know…”
I felt myself lean into her shoulder just hugging her…there’s so many things I want to say to her but…so little time it feels like
“I promise once we’re all out of here…I’ll tell you everything…”
“Hmm…”
I chuckle a bit
“What?”
“When we get back I just wanna sleep for…months cause I am tired as hell”
…sleep does sound nice…
“That does sound nice…I’m not even gonna lie..”
I give a small content smile…I actually feel like there was a weight removed off my shoulders…a feeling that maybe things could be better with us now
“I wouldn’t mind if you came along, you know…”
…
“Hm?”
I’m not sure I followed what she said, I felt her place her hand on the of my fair…her hand meeting my burn scars
“Roland…I’m saying I want you around…if that’s okay..”
…
“…”
“I’m sorry! That was a bit forward I-“
“Lilith.”
“Hm?”
“Yes!”
I immediately pull her back into the hug
“Woah!”
“Sorry! Just…I was worried what would happen if I saw you again!”
“I was worried too!!”
I was really worried for no reason…I felt tears well up in my eyes
“Hey you good dude?”
“Yeah…yeah! Just happy…”
…I lean my forehead towards hers
“Never thought I’d see you be the sentimental one…”
“…”
I carefully cup both sides of her face
“…I could say the same for you…”

 

(Zephyr pov)
(Location: mindscape)

 

I really hope they are doing ok…I mean crimson was nervous as hell before he-
…
…they seem happy, I haven’t seen crimson this happy since we got back to the rest and he saw the B team again
“Crimson…”
He turns to me
“…sorry I just thought I would tell you…”
“I know…”
…
“I’ll wait for you…”
I walk away as Lilith meets me outside the hallway
“Zephyr…”
“Hm?”
“…I wanted to say thank you for…helping Roland out.”
I look at her confused
“He means a lot to me….and I’m honestly just glad he’s okay after all these years.”
“…well he had us vault hunters…”
“Yeah but…I guess he just…”
She sighs
“Again thank you…”
“…yeah.”
I smile as I walk away

(Crimson pov)

…
…
“Roland…”
…
…
“Feels like we had barely any time…”
…
…
I turn around to face her
“…just seeing you was enough…and the fact you came here shows a lot…”
I felt her take my hand into hers…
“…I…”
“…you can’t stay…it’s clear you still need to separate na’tu from me and you can’t do that if you're still here…”
She respond as she observed the burn scars on my hand
“…”
“I’d much rather stay here…I feel like if…I leave…then I won’t see you or something bad will happen…”
…
“…look at me…”
My eyes meet hers…lilith’s eyes always did have this striking and…well mesmerizing look, it somehow always managed to captivate me whenever I saw her when we were vault hunters
“…it’ll be fine…you and the others seem to have this whole thing under control…and I know I’ll see you out there…”
…I felt my fingers intertwine with hers…”
“But what if something goes wrong…”
…
“It won’t…and even if it does…I’ll figure something out.”
She moved closer to my face
“Something that doesn’t get me killed but gets rid of na’tu…and I’ll find my way back…to everyone…to you…”
“Lil-“
…
Before I could say anything else…I felt her lips press into mine…this kiss didn’t feel unwelcome…it just felt warm, there was a feeling of comfort…the feeling when you’ve been searching for so long but…you finally found it…I just lean into her touch
…
…
We end up pulling away
“It’ll be okay…when I’m back we can talk more…”
”…”
“I…”
…I didn’t know what to say now.
…
…she seemed so confident that this whole thing will be alright, that this whole thing isn’t another goodbye…
“….ok…”
She quietly nods as she moved her hands away from my face
“…ok…”
…
I pull her into a hug again…just one last time
“…”
“Don’t get killed before I get back…”
“Noted…”

 

(Zephyr pov)
(Location: eridia’s court)

…
“Crimson?”
He snapped out of it as I moved my hand away
“How do you feel?”
I ask as crimson gives a smile
“I feel ok…”
…this was good, Lilith will be okay, we’ll go back to Pandora and go from there
“…”
I pat crimson on the shoulder
“Good…”
…
*STAB!!!*

Chapter 18: Ch 16: the god killer

Summary:

Seems like things have changed

(Zephyr pov)
(Location: eridia’s court)

…
…
…
“SORIUS!!”
I call out as his body falls to the ground with black blood pouring out from where agnar stabbed him with a trident…almost like nimbus’s trident
*BOOM!*
Agnar lands in the arena…
“Agnar…”
…I felt the fear spread in my body…
“ASSHOLE! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU DO THAT?! WE WERE GOING TO GET HER-“
“STAND DOWN MORTAL!!”
Lucifer glared at agnar as vex holds him back
“We can’t do much…he could kill us in an instant..”
I see agnar turned to Roland…in just a few moments I’ve seen him…it felt like any hope he had was just ripped away
“WE ALL VOTED TO HELP AGNAR?! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!”
Freya exclaimed, the other gods caused quite a commotion as Cain just observes the calamity of agnar’s choice
“…we thrive on war my friends..”
…
“Don’t you see…this whole thing is the reason we existed…why higher ups made us to use these mortals for wars and creation…”
agnar turns to us
“If we were to let one siren go…what would our whole purpose be?”
He then looked over at crimson
“Surely you understand Roland…”
Agnar spoke as he points his trident at him

 

(Crimson pov)

…
“…”
“I understand…”
…
“Great…glad we could agree on one that…that war keeps us-“
“I understand that you’re a DEAD MAN!”
I grab the trident trying to pull it away from agnar
“WHAT THE HELL?!”
…I’m not letting this bastard get away with this
“WHY?! SHE WAS FINE! WHY WOULD YOU KILL SORIUS JUST TO PREVENT THIS?!”
“SORIUS WAS OLD AND SENILE, I WAS DOING HIM A FAVOR.”
*BAM!*
“GAH!!!”
He kicks me away
“WERE YOU REALLY DOING SORIUS A FAVOR AGNAR?!”
…
“ZEPHYR DID YOU KNOW THAT SORIUS WAS ONCE HUMAN BEFORE BECOMING THE GOD OF TIME!? AGNAR FRAMED SORIUS AND GAVE THE HIGHER UPS THE IDEA TO PUNISH HIM BY MAKING HIM THIS!!”
“STAY OUT OF THIS MESSENGER!”
“EVEN FOR YOU IT WAS A SCANDAL!”
“ENOUGH!”
“AHHHH!!”
…agnar threw a blade into angel’s wing…
…
*BANG!*
*BANG!*
“SHIT!”
*CLINK!!!*
…I shot agnar in the legs…I look over at the trident that was once in his hands
“Alright you got me…let me-“
…I pick up the trident and walk over to agnar
“Hey…let’s not be rash about this whole thing…it was nothing persona-“
*STAB!*
“GAHHHHH!!!”
…I pierced him right in the chest with the trident
“…you…”
*STAB!*
“AGHHHH!!”
…
“Alright greaves…I think you got-“
“I’ll deal with you in a moment…you stay right where you are god of thunder…”
I glare back at agnar…
“Are you satisfied with what you’ve done…”
…
The god of war stayed silent…
“…this trident…it’s almost exactly like nimbus’s…”
I look up at the Demi god of the sea
“…still not over the fact you lost..”
“Alright I think that’s enoug-“
“SIT DOWN AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
Nimbus’s eyes widen as he slowly sits back down
“…”
“Your silence says a lot…you are just too much of a coward to admit when you're wrong…”
…
And they call him the god of war
…
…
“Pathetic…”
*STAB!!*
I strike him right in the head with the trident…
“AGNAR!!”
“Alright crimson…you had your fun…hand me the trident-“
“You planned for agnar to kill sorius…just so judgement for your brother was fulfilled…”
I laugh a bit as I turn to nimbus
“AND YOU!!!”
I continued laughing
“You couldn’t handle the fact you lost and felt petty enough to give agnar this trident to murder sorius.”
I pull the trident out of Agnar’s corpse…his blood completely black…the blood stained my outfit
“Luckily…because of Cordelia and Solaris I’ll leave you alone for now…unless you would like to come down here and end up like the god of losing wars here…”
I smile as I turn to Cain as I slowly move towards him…pulling out my eridian gun

(Zephyr pov)

I saw crimson raise the gun in his hand…I had a feeling he was only trying to threaten Cain to move aside…but I don’t think he knows that…none of them do…-
“THAT'S ENOUGH OF YOU!!”
*BOOM!!!!*
…Before any of us could stop crimson…Cain threw a thunder strike at crimson…not only wounding him but shattering the gun…the thunder bolt threw crimson back as he laid on the ground…almost still but still breathing…I was stuck in my thoughts now thinking…I had a feeling crimson would get himself killed in his anger but deep down I begged of the gods…please not him too…not him and Lilith both…
…
…
…
I can’t let this go on…
*CHOMP!*
I summoned a frost fang to quickly bite into Cain as he loses his balance, I quickly move to fight him that way the others can get crimson away
“Zephyr!”
“I got this!!”
*woosh!!*
“GO MY FROST FANGS!!”
I summon a herd of frost fangs to charge at Cain

“GET OFF ME!”
He shoots a immediate look at me
“YOU!!”
SHIT!
*BOOM!*
…
“GAH!!”
The thunder bolt struck me
…
…
…

 

(???)

“Zephyr!”
“Zephyr!”
I looked up to see what looked like a woman…she almost looked like me…with the brown hair and green eyes…but her pupils were cat-like and her outfit held a red and black cloak with a pale green sweater and she had less freckles than I do…
“…who…”
“…I’m one of your ancestors…both siren and family…I am eclipsa…”
…
…
“Why are you here?”
I ask
“…”
“…to help…you have so many things you must unlock but I can grant you that…”
…what?
“…you’ll need them if you are going to help your friends…”
I nod
“I know you can do this zephyr…”

…
…
…

(Zephyr pov)

*BOOM!*
*WAM*
“OOF!!”
I pushed Cain back, I looked behind me and noticed I had teal green wings…almost like talon’s…and my outfit had a new look
“HELL YEAH!!!”
I look at Cain
“GUESS WE’LL HAVE A COOKED WING TONIGHT!!”
“EEP!”
*BOOM!*
I manage to block the bolt with my wing
“TRY HARDER THUNDERCUNT!!”
“EXCUSE ME!?!?”
he growled as the thunder grows
“YOU HEARD ME!!”
I tackle him
*CHOMP!*
I use a fire filled bite and sunk my teeth into his neck
“GET OFF!”
“MAKE ME!!”
I felt his body having electricity run through him…he was trying to electrocute me…alright I need to end this now
*CHOMP!*
I bit into his throat and quickly pull away…leaving a gaping wound from where a chunk of his skin used to be
“…”
*thud!!*
Cain falls to the ground
“…”
“GODS DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING MYSELF?!”
“HESTIA!!”
I heard Solaris call out as I notice a portal appeared behind us
“RESLENA YOUR WIND PLEASE!!”
“OF COURSE!!”
*WOOSH!!*
“GAHH!!”
*BOOM!*

(Angel pov)

…
…
“Send the firehawk to kairos…but far enough that the timekeeper won’t find her…I know well enough he’ll be pissed…”
I heard ambrosia sigh as she looked at the dead gods…
“Who put you in charge?!”
“Ambrosia is Cain's niece! This makes her the new queen!”
Swara argues with nimbus
“And we’re just gonna agree with this?! She’s the Demi goddess of life!!”
“She’s also the new goddess of thunder! and it’s her call what we do…”
Amaris replied
“OH FUCK YOU MOONY!”
“WOAH HEY LEAVE AMARIS OUT OF THIS!!”
“YOU BROUGHT HIM INTO THIS BROTHER!! HE COULD’VE JUST LEFT THE VAULT ALONE AND FUCKED OFF!”
“ENOUGH!!”
Ambrosia yelled
“I AM THE QUEEN AND I'M DOING WHAT'S BEST AS OF NOW, I SUGGEST YOU DON’T FIGHT ME ON THIS UNLESS YOU WANNA END UP LIKE THOSE THREE!!”
…
“Angel…”
I look up at Phaton and Melian
“Melian…”
I notice Melian look up at ambrosia
“I’m going to send you back to roland’s rest to make sure everyone is ok…I’m not sure where hestia sent them but just wait for them at the rest…Waylon…I want you to fix their fast travel so they can go back to their base…”
Waylon nods
“Of course…”

 

(Location: T- Bone junction)
(Lucifer pov)

“DAMN IT!!”
Crimson just hits his fist against the wall…he did it one last time before he started to keel over due to his injuries and blood loss
…
…
I don’t get it…
I’m angry at the gods just as much as he is…but how can I take it?
Roland is tougher then I am…never shows his emotions often…why can I take it when he can’t
…
…
I’m wondering now…could I have done something, I’m the great grandson of the goddess of fire…her warrior, could I have stopped agnar from killing sorius…could we have gotten Lilith back…
…
…
I’m seeing it now…Roland loved Lilith, the look on his face when he left the mindscape…he looked comforted and there was hope in his eyes…
Then it was just…gone the moment agnar killed sorius…
…
…
“Vault hunters?!”
I turn to see scraps…the man who was in the old tavern in the Jakobs harbor
“Scraps?”
Paris calls out
“Heyy!! Funny seeing you guys here! And we got some new faces?”
“Right…this is Ava…commander and detective of the crimson raiders…tannis an expert on eridian history and siren…vex…another siren and then Lucifer…lilith’s brother..”
Scraps nods
“Good to meet y'all.”
He moves past us
“And how’s rolly doing after our last-“
…
Scraps face dropped as he looked at the damaged and defeated crimson
“…what happened…what’s with all this paint on ya….”
…
“…blood…”
Scraps eyes slowly widen as crimson mutters those words
“…ok…alright it’s not your blood…what happened bud…”
…
All crimson does is lean into scraps shoulder
“…buddy…”
He sighs
“…do you know where we can find a fast travel…?”
I softly ask
“Yeah…we…we got one in the bar…c’mon let’s get you all inside and get you patched up…”
Scraps turned back to Roland as he slowly helps him up and gives him his shoulder, I look over at Paris who carries zephyr in a bridal style…Sloane walks over to them with vex
“Shit…zeph…”
“I’m gonna need to stitch the wound a bit…”
I see Sloane turn to tannis
“Tannis, do you think you can give me a hand with these wounds?”
“…I’ll see what I can do but…it’s not promising.”
….I end up following the others to an empty bar…I saw Aebri behind the counter and Ansley sitting on one of the stools, I see her eyes widen
“Roland!”

(Crimson pov)

…
..Ansley…
“Hey kid…”
“What happened?”
“…we failed a mission…”
I felt Ansley and Aebri guide me to a booth
“…you don’t see fine…”
Aebri sighed…
“Are those new tattoos…”
Hm?
I didn’t follow what Ansley meant. I looked at my non mechanical arm and noticed something strange…there were definitely tattoos on my arm…the pattern was almost like fire but it was almost like a wave..almost similar to how lilith’s tattoos were..there was even an orange glow
“It’s glowing too…”
I see Lucifer walk over to observe
“That’s…weird, tannis, can you come over here?”
“I’m helping Sloane right now Lucifer…”
“Yeah but we might need you kinda now?”
Tannis walked over and her face changed from annoyance to confusion
“Tattoos…”
She observed the tattoos
“It’s almost like Lilith's tattoos…”
“That’s fascinating…”
“I wonder if it was when that eridian gun crimson used was shattered?”
“That is possible…”
Tannis looked at Lucifer
“That gun crimson had been blessed by Hestia when he and Paris fought Carlos…but I had another theory.”
“And that is…?”
…
“It was some sort of gift”
I look at the tattoos
“It could’ve been from Lilith…she didn’t pass anything onto him…so she still has her powers…but these tattoos might have some sort of protection with them…”
Protection…?
“It’s too soon to say…but they seem harmless despite the glow…even got a few small marks on your face…nothing too big, just edged lines is what I would say…”
…
“Ok I’m not helping…let’s go Patricia.”
…

 

(Zephyr pov)

“Ow…”
“Almost done zeph…that was badass what you did, not gonna lie…”
Sloane sighs
“You gonna be alright?”
Vex places a hand on my shoulder
“Yeah…thank you sister.”
She nods
“Alright…we got the fast travel ready whenever you guys finish up…be sure to stop by sometime…”
I nod
“Thank you again, scraps.”
“It’s no problem…”

 

(One hour later)
(Location: boom town)
(Paris’s pov)

…
“Vault hunters!”
We looked up to see brick and Mordecai arrive at the entrance
“How did the mission….go…”
Brick paused as he saw us…almost wounded,bandaged up and crimson and Paris beaten up…crimson just looked at them, he was still grieving this loss and he just looked tired
“…what happened…?”
Mordecai asks
“…”
“Something backfired when we were so close to getting Lilith back…”
I softly explain
“…agnar…killed the god of time, basically stopping him from separating both na’tu and Lilith…”
I looked over at crimson who walked over to check on Tina and Laurent
“…”
“It didn’t end well…”
…
“So Lilith is…”
I nod
“I’m sorry Mordecai…we really did try to help, we followed the trials, basically almost fought to the death…”
I look to the ground in shame
“But we still lost…”
…
“We’ll figure it out…”
I felt Mordecai place his hand on my shoulder
“…if she’s still out there…then there’s still a chance to separate na’tu from the host…we need to figure out what to do. Make a plan.”
He explains
“Mordecai is right…we could still reverse what happened to Lilith….I’m not sure how we’re going to do it, and it’s gonna take a while to figure it out but we’re gonna make sure to find Lilith and get her back to Pandora.”
Ava explains as she slightly paces around
“I’m going to help Tannis in this investigation and just look through anything we missed, we’ll need you guys on Pandora, we’ll need any defenses we have just in case anything tries to storm us.”
“Roland.”
We turn over to see brick beside Roland near a fast travel
“I’m fine…just need to go somewhere real quick.”
“You look like hell and clearly hurt, you should be laying down.”
“Brick…please…”
Crimson just looked at brick with a tired stare as brick just sighs and moves away
“…thank you…”
I walk over to brick
“He’ll be ok…he probably just needs some time…”
I explain
“The tattoos…they-“
“Lucifer theorized it was something from Lilith…to protect him or something.”
I add to Gaige’s comment
“…”
“We…we should head back to the rest…if there’s anything we can do…give us a call.”

 

-TBC-

Chapter 19: Ch 17: soldier to gladiator

Summary:

Crimson goes to meet a familiar face

(Location: hollow point)
(Crimson’s pov)

…
This is where Elias said they were set up at…just gotta ask my questions and get out…I’d rather not overstay my welcome after the last encounter back on Helios, but out of everyone Athena had always been straight to the point
*creak!*
“Hiya!”
I look up to see Janey…
“Hello…Mrs.springs correct?”
“Yep! How can I help ya…”
“Crimson…crimson Evelyn.”
“Evelyn? That’s funny,that last name sounds familiar.”
She laughed
“Well my father was Henry Evelyn…he was an inventor almost…he used to be in atlas but had a quiet retirement.”
“Ohhh yeah!”
I smile
“If I can ask…is Athena here?”
“Athena? Yeah why?”
She looked at me with concern and confusion
“No worry I’m just here to catch up with an old friend…I used to be in atlas and left long ago and thought it would be a good time to pay a visit.”
“Just to chat?”
“Yes no worry I heard from a friend of mine that she’s finally relaxed.”
I explain
“Alright! I’ll be right back.”
Janey walks away as I sit down in a chair
“…”
I observe the tattoos on my arm again, I’m still unsure why these were placed on me…or what protection they even give
“I don’t really remember a crimson Evelyn…are you sure?”
“I mean maybe some sort of forgetting type of thing.”
“Hm…well I guess there were multiple people in at-“
Athena froze as she saw me
“Hello Athena…”
“…”
I smile
“Congratulations on the marriage by the way, if I can congratulate you two.”
I respond
“Ohhh I remember you now…”
She smiles but I can see past it
“Janey, could you leave us alone so I can talk to “crimson” here?”
“Of course. I think I had a call for an order anyway.”
She says as she walks off as Athena quickly glares at me
“What the hell are you doing here…”
“I’m here to talk Athena…”
“If you're here for business I’m not doing it.”
I laugh
“It’s not business…I respect your wishes on retirement and it seems you have a good thing going on.”
“…then why are you here?”
“To ask some questions about your…attempted execution.”
I respond as I stand up from the chair
“So you heard…”
“Yes and I’ll be honest, that wasn’t really part of the plan.”
I sigh
“…how did you even survive, last I checked you were killed by Jack..”
I blankly shrug
“Shield still had some energy but that situation wasn’t entirely a win-win…seeing as I was gone for 10 years.”
…
*clap*
I put my hands together
“Anyways, time for my questions.”
I pace around a bit
“I talked to Mordecai and Brick about that day…after bullets fired, they said there was a guardian that appeared that stopped the bullets. Am I wrong?”
Athena crosses her arms
“Correct…I don’t recall much that day but it said war is coming.”
…
“I see…well I figured as much…”
“…why are you asking about this now and why are you going to me about this?”
“Simple…you were almost executed as an unarmed prisoner and I thought you might know something.”
“And you think I would want to talk to any of you…I didn’t forget about Helios…”
“I know and I can't apologize for what we did…we had to destroy the eye, I feel like you should know that someone like him shouldn’t have that power…”
I respond coldly
“It was only after what happened in the vault I realized what kinda man Jack was…”
“Then you were somehow dragged back in…that was when the claptrap line was shut down…”
“Yes…”
…
“Well seeing what happened with Jack and however you got captured ... .I can see why you’d quit that life…”
I laugh as I picked up a photo
“…so you were considered dead for ten years…why come back now?”
“…”
“..?”
“I’m helping the raiders ... .in trying to find Lilith but clearly it didn’t go well in the mission.”
“You are helping the raiders again?”
“Not all of them know I’m alive and I didn’t arrive at the place alone…I have my own vault hunters and crew…after an incident we just got sent to the rest…with no way back to the base.”
“You hired your own group too?”
“Yes…but I didn’t realize the end goal until my memories came back…”
“Your memories?”
“…my memory was wiped…I have them back now but I was just trying to get back home, I’m going to help the vault hunters get back…but I’m staying.”
…
“I have a family here too, Athena…the only reason I’m even here is to ask questions…and you easily could’ve killed me the moment I entered the workshop…”
“Yet I didn’t…”
“…glad we can see eye to eye on something, you clearly don’t wanna see me and believe me I’d rather leave you to your retirement.”
“…thank you..”
I nod
“Well then…I think I overstayed, you have a good night Athena…”
“One more thing…”
…
“Do you regret working with Jack?”
…
…
…
“Not that it matters but…I’d be lying if I said no.”
…
“Good night Athena…”

 

(Outside of Janey’s workshop)

…
That could’ve went better
…
…
“Knew I’d find you here…”
“Ah!”
I see Mordecai standing over on the side with talon on his shoulder
“Mordecai…”
“What the hell are you doing man…?”
“I just thought I could try and figure something out and give some more answers, how to stop this whole thing.”
“And you thought going here would help?!…you should be resting, you were still limping when you guys got to boom town!”
“Rest can wait we need to figure what to-“
“You always do this! You put the mission before making sure you're ok! I get it but it’s killing you-“
“You don’t think I know that?!”
I take a breath
“This whole thing has almost gotten me killed but I have to keep going…”
“…do you though…?”
…
“I have a feeling you don’t…even back when fighting Jack you never really took a moment to rest.”
…
“I thought after Jakobs harbor you were doing better…I seemed ok, and I thought maybe things would be fine…maybe not entirely but is anything ever entirely fine?”
I just quietly sighed
“And then I found you here…”
“…I’m sorry.”
I look towards him
“I thought I was doing better also…I was trying to let go of what happened with Jack and well everything on epitaph.”
…
“Feels like everytime we learn something or something just happens…it’s just back to rock bottom.”
…
*sigh.*
“I get it…I mean after bloodwing I…”
…he didn’t exactly like talking about it, I still remember what happened that day…maybe I could’ve tried to talk to Mordecai also.
“…sorry.”
“What I’m saying is…I wanna help…I don’t wanna lose you again and neither do Tina or brick, and I sure as hell don’t want Laurent to lose a father.”
…
“Lights here are pretty…”
I respond softly
…
“Zephyr said you talked to Lilith…how did it go?”
I just shrug
“Not as you expect?”
“How so?”
“Well…she wasn’t really pissed or anything, she hugged me…and said she was happy to see me.”
…
?
“Well she doesn’t hate you…that’s good.”
“Yeah I guess…and it’s good but…I’m just confused.”
…
I felt Mordecai pat me on the shoulder
“Fair enough…maybe it’ll make sense one day…”
…
“Thank you…mordecai.”
“…”
“…”
“No problem…”

-TBC?-

Chapter 20: Ch 18: safe travels

Summary:

The final discussion between zephyr and crimson

(1 day later)
(Location: boomtown)
(Zephyr pov)

I enter boomtown
“Heyy Zeph!!”
I look over at Tina and Laurent
“Hey you two. What are you up to?”
I ask
“Tina is teaching me how to make bombs and how to hijack a train!”
…hijack a- nevermind I feel like that’s something I shouldn’t ask
“That’s nice…is crimson here?”
“Dad should be in the workshop!”
Laurent responds
“Thank you…how are you guys doing?”
I smile
“…pretty good,we’ve just been doing the usual jobs and we might be heading somewhere for a job.”
“Oh you are?”
“Yep! We’re still waiting to hear updates but that's basically it.”
Tina explained as she continued grabbing blueprints
“Tiny! Are you telling Zephyr about the job?”
I look over at Roxie
“Yeah!”
“Yeah it should be fun and me and silent Reid gonna be watchers to observe the area with the others!”
“So you and Reid are staying?”
“Yeah! Nice job and we get to stick together!”
Roxie cheers
“I’m gonna go talk to crimson about something real quick.”
“Alrighty! Tina I could use your help with something real quick if you could.”
“Sure!”
I nod as I see Tina,Roxie,and Laurent walk off somewhere, I walk over to the workshop which Laurent mentioned, he turns over to me
“Zephyr!”
He gives me a smile
“Hey crimson.”
I observe him, he looks tired but he looks better than he did yesterday and the tattoos still glowing orange
“You seem okay.”
“Yeah…just had time to think and I need to work on everything else, and I wanna help out and just focus on Laurent and the others.”
…that’s good that he’s focusing on the B team and himself
“That’s good, I’m glad you are starting to focus on yourself for the time being.”
I nod
“So what brings you here?”
…
“The day we got back…when me and the others got to the rest we met Waylon…”
“Waylon?”
“Yes…”
“..what did he want?”
“…”
“Zephyr?”
“He got us back on the fast travel…we could go back to the base and meet the others again.”
I smile
“Really?”
“Yeah! We’ll be able to see Elias and the others again.”
“That’s great zephyr!”
I nod…we’ll finally be able to work on the mercenary team idea
“I know you probably still don’t wanna come back with us…”
He crosses his arms
“Yeah…this was my home…it still is.”
He looked outside over at Tina and Laurent along with the others
“And plus I want to be there for Tina and the others more than I was back when I was commander.”
He explains
“I may not be able to fix my past mistakes but I can make things better and actually be around this time…”
I get why he would want this…and honestly I respect him for that, hell even before ghost town and after I think I always had this bit of respect towards him. He was determined even when the original goal was getting to the vault but when he learned that Tina was alive still then he had a bit more hope. He kept both goals in mind in wanting to hunt the vault and make it back home…to his friends
“I just wanted to tell you before we head off…”
It would just be us…Melian is on sanctuary and choosing to stay to help tannis’s research,Blair will probably be around for a little bit for her shop but she might stick with Vera on her adventures…I’m not sure what Lucifer is up to but probably back on his mercenary jobs and well Laurent is staying with crimson
“I understand.”
I notice crimson put his hand out
“Well…safe travels and I wish you luck on…well everything.”
I shake his hand and as we pull away I notice a key in my hand
“What’s this?”
“…your payment…it’s in Petra’s room, I promised I’d pay you guys and I’m holding up my end of the bargain.”
…
“I’m sure we’ll still talk but until then…take care kid.”
I nod as he moves back to his work bench, I went towards the entrance of the workshop and turn back to him
“Roland!”
…
He turns to look at me
“I was lucky to have you as a mentor.”
Crimson nods as he smiles.
This is probably the most honest compliment I could give…I could understand crimson a bit more after everything we’ve done…crimson is a strange person but I can see he’s a determined man yet not entirely damaged, damaged yes but not broken…I always knew there was a chance at him to heal…

 

-END-