Clinic Chakraborty, Eagle District, Xing Hong
Beeping sounds and the smell of antiseptics woke Sigrun up. Her eyes opened to a dim hospital room in evening light. Tubes ran from her arm to an IV stand beside her bed. She tried to sit up but got dizzy and fell back onto the pillow.
That's when she spotted H?kon perched on a nearby container, tiny claws holding a piece of golden fruit. The little Diabolisk's mandibles worked contentedly as he savored what smelled like stewed apple.
Nearby, Zhi-Xin Wu sat in a steel chair. His fingers typed on his Nucleus Watch, green light glowing on his face.
Through her blurry vision, Sigrun could see text floating above the watch, reflected in a small mirror behind Xin:
'Helping a Leased Lily heal emotional trauma'
'Racial/ethnic differences in body language & eating habits: Valoran, Nordling, Djinno, Imperial, Novian'
'Nordling female / Imperial male dating: Hurdles to overcome'
The last searches made her chuckle softly.
"Sky Lady!" H?kon's reaction was immediate. He spun toward Sigrun, apple forgotten, blue eyes bright with joy.
"Hey, boy..." A smile broke across Sigrun's face despite everything.
Xin's head snapped up. His fingers fumbled, swiping frantically at the Nucleus Watch display—too late. The search results hung in the air for another second before dissolving.
"You're awake." His voice cracked on the second word. "I was just reading about—that was research for—I mean—"
"Sky Lady wake up!" The stewed apple tumbled as H?kon launched himself from the crate, small legs carrying him in a scramble across the sheets. His scales shifted colors, gray exhaustion vanished into azure excitement as he pressed himself against her chest. "Sky Lady sleep long-long time! HAW-koon worry."
"Three days." Xin stood, then seemed unsure what to do with his hands. He settled for adjusting his glasses. "You've been out for three days. Doctor Nikki said your Aether reserves were critically depleted. Your body just... shut down."
"Water-water!" H?kon chirped, tiny claw pointing to a covered cup on the bedside table. "Doctor Lady say Sky Lady need water when wake up."
Xin was already reaching for it, removing the lid, pressing the cup into Sigrun hands. "Small sips. Nikki said small sips first."
Then, H?kon scrambled across the sheets and launched himself at the cup. His small body wrapped around it entirely, legs gripping the base, claws clutching the rim, short tail curled tight for balance. The cup wobbled dangerously as he tried to hold it.
"HAW-koon hold water when Sky Lady drink." he announced, straining. The cup was nearly as big as he was.
"Careful, buddy." Xin's hands hovered, ready to catch a disaster.
Sigrun couldn't help the smile that cracked across her face. She cupped her hands around both the water and the determined Diabolisk, guiding them toward her lips together, taking measured sips.
The water was lukewarm and tasted faintly of minerals. Best thing she'd ever drunk. A comfortable minute had passed from there.
When she'd drained it, H?kon's small form was still wrapped around the empty cup, scales pulsing proud gold. "Sky Lady drink all! HAW-koon good helper?"
"The best helper," she managed, voice less like gravel now.
Xin leaned in, gently prying the cup from H?kon's grip. The little Diabolisk reluctantly uncoiled, then held on to Sigrun's hospital gown instead, settling against her chest with a satisfied chirp.
Sigrun looked at Xin properly for the first time. Something was different.
The rumpled green hoodie was gone. In its place, Xin wore an olive long-sleeve shirt, pressed and clean, the collar buttoned all the way up. His rectangular glasses had been polished. His hair was actually combed.
He looked like he was about to sign a contract.
"New shirt?" she managed.
Color rose in his cheeks. "I had some money. From the bounty split. Figured I should...you know." He gestured vaguely at himself. "Look presentable. While I waited."
"While you waited." She let that sit for a moment as Xin placed her empty cup away. "For three days."
"Doctor Nikki let me use her break room. For sleeping. Sometimes." He was doing that thing again—words tumbling out faster when he got nervous. "H?kon wouldn't leave your side anyway. His scales went black for the first six hours. I thought he was sick, but Nikki said it was grief coloring, and I should just let him process. Then, she made the apple stew. Turns out a little bit of homemade food helps him relax. His scales finally went back to normal from there. Would you like some apple? Nikki made extra. I heard it's a common Nordling dish. Also—"
"Xin."
He stopped.
"Thank you."
The words came out rough, scraped raw by days of disuse. But she meant them. Could feel how much she meant them in the tightness of her chest.
H?kon chirped against her collarbone, tail curling around her wrist. "Pappa stay too. Pappa not leave. Pappa bring HAW-koon apple. Hot-hot yummy!"
Xin's flush deepened as he looked at the small dish of stewed apple at Sigrun's bedside. "Be sure to leave some for Sky Lady, okay, buddy?"
"I'm not hungry yet. Thanks, though." Sigrun's hand found the little Diabolisk's head, fingers scratching behind those tiny horns. His scales pulsed warm blue-bronze under her touch.
The room fell quiet. Machines beeped. Evening light slanted through the blinds, painting orange stripes across the sheets.
"Sigrun." Xin's voice had gone serious. He was looking at her with that expression she'd seen in the Warren—gentle worry that somehow didn't make her want to punch something. "During that fight at the motel. Before you collapsed. That entity called Skarn."
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Her hand stilled on H?kon's scales. "The big asshole leading Fenris."
"Yeah, that one. He said someone named Ivar lied to you. Changed your memories." Xin's fingers twisted together. "I don't know who that is, but you... you looked like someone had hit you. And I thought maybe, if you wanted to talk about it—"
"Ivar." The name tasted like ash. "He was my boyfriend. Back on Europa. Eleven years ago."
"Oh." A pause. "Was?"
"He died. At least, I thought he did." The words came automatically. "Skarn killed him. When the Horde took the station."
But even as she said it, the certainty that had anchored that memory for eleven years felt... loose. Skarn's grinding laugh echoed through her skull.
"Skarn said Ivar lied to me. Changed something in my head." She stared at the ceiling, at the water stains and flickering fluorescent strips. "I don't know what that means. I don't remember anything being wrong with Ivar. But I don't remember a lot of things right either. My memory's been shit for years."
"Your Intellect score." Xin said it quietly. Not judgmental. Just connecting dots.
"Yeah. That." She laughed, and it came out bitter. "Can't remember what I ate yesterday. Can't remember conversations from last week. But I remember Ivar saying he loves me…then dying…like it happened this morning. Funny how that works."
H?kon made a soft sound against her chest. His scales had shifted to a worried brown, and he nuzzled closer.
"If he lied to you," Xin said slowly, "and if he's not actually dead... that's something we could find out. Right? There might be records. Ship logs from an evacuation. Something."
"Maybe." The word felt heavy. "Or maybe Skarn was just fucking with my head. That's what monsters do."
Xin's hand hovered near hers on the bed, not quite touching, then rested on the bed sheet. "You don't have to figure it out alone."
She looked at his hand. At the careful distance he maintained.
The door swung open two seconds later.
"The Valkyrie awakens!"
Jabari Adomako swept into the room like he was making an entrance on stage. His dashiki blazed crimson and gold against the clinic's sterile white, patterns that seemed to shift and dance when he moved. Behind him came Marcus Thorne, moving slower, bandages visible beneath a plain gray wool sweater.
"We brought food." Marcus pointed at a cloth sack that Jabari held. "Real food made by hard-working men. Not whatever paste they're serving you here."
"Music Man bring food?" H?kon had perked up at the sight of the cloth sack, his scales brightening to curious azure, nostrils flaring. "HAW-koon smell yummy!"
"Sharp nose on this one." Jabari held up his cloth sack.
"Meat pies from the Maridian Lane in Lion District. The owner owed me a favor."
"That 'whatever paste' is nutritionally optimized recovery formula, Mister Thorne." Nikki Chakraborty said from the doorway, arms crossed over her white clinic coat. Her wire-rimmed glasses reflected the light as she looked at the new arrivals. "And it's keeping her alive while her body rebuilds its Aether reserves."
"If it works, it works." Sigrun said.
"In any event, it's good to see you back." Nikki was already stepping aside to let the visitors through as she smiled. "Thirty minutes. Sigrun still needs rest."
"Ma'am, yes, ma'am." Jabari did a theatrical bow that made Nikki roll her eyes before she retreated, the door swinging closed behind her.
At that moment, Sigrun sat up and became aware of what she was wearing: clinic-issue pajamas in pale blue, soft cotton that had clearly been designed for someone with a different body type. The fabric pulled tight across her breasts in a way that made her want to cross her arms.
Such things happened more often than she could count. As an Imperial-dominant city, most of Xing Hong's residents were smaller and less physically impressive than Sigrun. Attire often came in sizes that matched except the chest area, which squeezed and choked more than they accommodated. Customization was needed every time she bought a new piece.
For now, she settled for tugging the thin clinic blanket higher, while H?kon had moved to the bed's edge, small claws on the sheet, sitting next to her like a guardian familiar.
Jabari noticed. His grin widened, but he had the grace not to comment. Instead, the Griot unwrapped the cloth sack and began distributing meat pies—one for Sigrun, one for Marcus, one for Xin, and a delicate small slice that appeared carefully prepared, just the right size for H?kon.
"HAW-koon get special pie?" The little Diabolisk's scales shifted to delighted gold as he accepted the morsel. "Music Man nice-nice!"
The smell hit Sigrun's nostrils: spiced beef, flaky pastry, something that might have been cumin. Her stomach growled so loud it surprised her.
She bit into the pie without thinking twice. Grease and spices flooded her mouth, rich and sharp after days of nothing but nutrient paste. A sound escaped her throat—somewhere between a groan and a sigh.
"Good?" Jabari looked pleased.
"So good."
She was halfway through her second bite when her silver Nucleus Watch at the bedside table chirped.
All four of them looked at the device. The display flashed official blue:
[INCOMING CALL -
[Answer? Y/N]
"Sky Lady po-pu-lar," H?kon murmured from his position on the bed, crumbs dotting his snout. "Get phone-phone even when eating."
Sigrun wiped her fingers on the blanket—Nikki could scold her later—and leaned over to pick up her watch and accept the call, her ivory finger tapping the 'Y' on its holographic projection.
Dilinur Altai's face materialized above the watch, rendered in flickering hologram. She wore her usual black silk robes, dark hair pulled back in a precise bun. Behind her, the walls of Phoenix District's government tower were visible, along with Kenji Tsudo's silent presence at her shoulder.
"Miss Fjeld. I'm pleased to see you're awake." The Prefect's voice carried that particular calm that could mean anything from mild approval to imminent scold. "I trust Doctor Chakraborty has been treating you well?"
"She's kept me alive." Sigrun took another bite of meat pie, chewing. If Dilinur found it disrespectful, her expression didn't show it.
"Good. Your medical expense was substantial." A pause.
"But the administration has covered it." Kenji chimed in at that moment, his hologram nodding.
"I understand Mister Adomako and Mister Thorne are present?" Dilinur's form looked around the room.
"We're here, Prefect." Jabari leaned into the frame, one hand making a V-sign, ever the showman. A flake of pastry clung to his lower lip. "Along with Mister Wu and one very small Diabolisk."
"Red Lady!" H?kon chirped at the mention, poking his head up from Sigrun's bed to look at the hologram. Crumbs tumbled from his mandibles onto the sheets. "Red Lady call. New ad-ven-chure?"
Something like amusement flickered across Dilinur's features. Gone before Sigrun could be sure.
"I'll address all of you together." The Prefect's tone shifted, still calm, but with an edge of formality that meant official business. "The events of three days ago have been clarifying. With the Terra Alliance's aid, Xing Hong has survived Skarn's assault, but we cannot rely on surviving the next one. The Fenris Horde tested our defenses. They learned. They will likely return stronger."
Marcus had set his pie aside, listening intently. Xin was still holding his, untouched, too nervous to eat in front of authority. Jabari, naturally, kept chewing.
Dilinur paused, letting that sink in before she continued. "If you recall, the intelligence extracted from the High-Grade Zephyrium originally pointed us toward Red Nanjing Vault to the south of Xing Hong."
"Our Constables found an empty vault. No trace of this Ume person, or any person. Regardless, there were useful things in there, besides…multiple uncanny entertainment tools meant for grown adults." Kenji made a nervous cough as he finished.
"So, dildos? Just say them." Sigrun shrugged between chewing her food.
Marcus frowned.
"I was hoping you'd be kind enough to mince words." Kenji's sigh was audible as he pressed a hand to his forehead.
"What's a deal-dough? Yummy? Magic?" Holding his slice of pie, H?kon tilted his head asking, looking at Xin.
"It's a magic wand to make older ladies happy." Jabari chimed in casually, gesturing vaguely. "Trust me, though, it's nowhere as fun as toy bricks for you."
H?kon perked up at that, his sapphire eyes widening. "HAW-koon like toy bricks! Music Man play too?"
"Totally! We should build a castle together sometime." Walking around Sigrun's bed, Jabari nodded at the little Diabolisk encouragingly as Xin patted his arms with visible gratitude.
"In any event, the Constables were able to retrieve camera recordings showing Imperium of Dragons soldiers entering the vault." Kenji resumed his earlier calm posture, adjusting the medallion on his robes, looking at Sigrun.
"What about them?" Sigrun met his gaze.
"Several wore golden badges of a winged horse, the insignia of Jin Syue. The major Imperium city on Venus. We believe the Radi-Human named Ume is now held there."
"Whoever or whatever this Ume is, her genetic structure holds the key to understanding Skarn. We need it to defeat the Fenris Horde." Dilinur raised a hand for attention. "I'm putting together a team to extract her. I want all of you on it."