Critical Role - Campaign 2 : Mighty Nein

Get him back (2)

The world above was interesting you on this arctic night. The sky was a deep navy blue with faint black streaks bleeding through. There were many shades of green which danced across the midnight sky. The stars were brighter than you had seen them these past couple of weeks and you felt that the gods were on your side. You weren't on the same magical intelligence level as Caleb, but you spent the majority of your life researching history and astronomy, so you knew your constellations. They were the only thing that kept you sane some nights and particularly this night.

There were rumours and tonight you would see for yourself if they were true or not because no offence to Jester, but you didn't believe her when she announced that Molly had rose from his grave. You needed to see for yourself.

Jester had asked the Traveler if he could bring you into her scry and somehow, he agreed. How he would or could do it was beyond your knowledge, but you were up for the journey.

"Are you ready?"

You turned to face Jester as she grabbed your hands in her own; a silent comfort for you both. "Don't be scared, whatever we see I'm sure it will be ok. The Traveler will keep us both safe, you know so you don't need to worry." You couldn't help but smile as her face lit up as she mentioned the Traveler's name.

"It's now or never Jessie."

The sound of the blood pumping around your body got louder as Jester gently tugged your arm to bring you to sit with her in the snow. Your friends were standing in complete silence. Waiting. Waiting for you both to enter the scry and waiting for your reactions to whatever you would see.

A cold breeze gripping your shoulders is what brought you out of your thoughts. It was a change from the heat of Caleb's dome and caused your spine to shiver against your will. One look at Jester's face was all you needed to know that this was the presence of the Traveler.

A soft voice, so faint but so present, met your ears. "Let's see what he has been up to, shall we?" And with that you were forced through a magical screen into where Molly supposedly was. You didn't want to open your eyes, scared of what you would see, but the sound of drawers opening and paper rustling piqued your curiosity.

"Well lookie here."

That was all you needed to hear to know it was true. You shifted your attention to the figure in the room, that of an all too familiar purple tiefling. However, you knew this wasn't Molly for his accent was thick and the way he held himself was too uptight and serious. This must be Lucien. You didn't know much about this man; in fact, you knew virtually nothing as you kept yourself out of the Nein's discussions about your former lover.

Memories of days that you had spent with Molly flashed in your head and thoughts of his recent escapades formed into conspiracies. You couldn't bring yourself to focus on him any longer, instead just wishing you were out and back in the comfort of your friends.

You had no sense of time for how long you had been squeezing your eyes shut, both to stop the tears and to avoid looking at him. Hours seemed to pass before you were pulled back into reality. The cold but comforting presence of the Traveler seemed to wrap you both in a hug before disappearing and the warmth seeped through your chilled bones once more.

Sitting cross-legged in the snow, you wouldn't dare to look at the Mighty Nein; your lap being very interesting to you at this particular moment in time. You held onto Jester's hands with more force than before, trying to calm yourself. Sensing your discomfort, she leaned forward and enveloped you in a hug. You gladly returned it as you gave in and let the tears fall. You buried your head in her shoulder as you tried to make sense of what you had just seen but you came up with nothing.

Snow crunching under the feet of multiple people caused you to look up slightly as your friends sat down in the snow around the pair of you. Not saying anything, just as silent support.

As the tears slowed, you brought yourself out of Jester's hug but still held onto her. Her gaze met yours and you felt your heart ache more. Her eyes held so much grief and the normally vibrant purple irises were dull. "We can get him back, right?" Looking round at your friends you knew that you didn't want to know the answer to that.

Fjord was the first to speak up, awkwardly clearing his throat as he spoke against the tension in the dome. "We will try. I don't want to speak for everyone here but I think we all miss him, no matter how annoying he could be. So we will try our best to bring him back to the Mighty Nein." The half-orc may have been slightly socially awkward on occasion, but you appreciated his words, letting out a breathy laugh at his attempt to lighten the mood.

Minutes pass as one by one they start to sit by the fire, listening with a saddened urgency as Jester describes the scry. You could only stare at the fire as it crackled; the flames casting mesmerizing patterns in the air. Pale hands pulled you into their owner's body as Yasha wrapped her coat around your shoulders. She had known Molly just a few months more than you had and guessed that she was feeling the same as you were with the recent discoveries.

"I know you want nothing more than to bring him back to us and I am with you on that. We don't know if it's possible but between all of us I'm sure we can do something."

As the late night started to approach and your friend's voices turned into gentle murmurs, you fell asleep with your head resting on Yasha's shoulder. Your last thought being how you were getting your purple tiefling back.

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1044 words