Hawkins had never participated in a funeral before.
It was a strange word to use. Funeral. There was nothing fun about it but perhaps, the fun was the decision to remain light hearted despite all that. Gidget had clearly taken those words to heart, his jovial Craft proving far more useful than any plot of scuffed dirt he could come up with.
They worked mostly in silence, the Tinker Mole quietly providing him with stories of the other races and how they cared for their dead. Hawkins struggled to grasp a lot of the concepts, his overactive imagination being bogged down by exhaustion and reminders of his own failures. Not even discussions of other countries he’d never been to could break him out of his stupor.
There had been a small gesture for both Colossus and his father but it was barely a courtesy. Hack had managed to gather as much of their ashes as he could but without the Ashes of the Fallen it wasn’t important to the Undercity and was soon stolen and vandalised for money. Ashes cost a lot even without the recognition of identity so it was no wonder they had been heartily sought after for the Bolthole’s black market. After all, the Mediators were more than enough to handle any disputes between Death Dealer gangs.
“I think it’s time to begin.”
The closed off area had now been divided into a suitable section to act as a buffer for anyone participating in this makeshift memorial. The others still sat idly by, aware but exhausted as Hack gave no indication he was past their earlier dispute and Hawkins didn’t have the heart to tell him. The Mediator watched curiously as Gidget’s Miner Craft mirrored his uncle’s, burrowing deep with his claws to build various rock formations that reminded Hawkins of the Caldorian plants Hack had used earlier.
But despite the similarities with Gizmo, his Craft retained a fluidity and grace that the older Tinker Mole lacked as the gravel induced ground was moulded into something far more pliable. A single gravestone much like the ones Hack had conjured up all those years ago sprouted from the earth like a Solaris plant in full bloom. With one final look towards the resting Sand Wraith, Hawkins stood beside Gidget and closed his eyes in prayer.
"Fatekeeper. Watch over our brethren from beyond the reach of your sight. Although he may not be of kin, he is worthy of your forgiveness even if this place may not have been so kind."
The Tinker Mole's words drifted along at an even pace, Hawkins breathing matching the slow, methodical rhythm of Gidgets prayers. His heartbeat was barely noticeable over the shifting earth, his Trait humming beneath the surface of his consciousness.
Gidget began to falter, his mind going blank for the next part of his services but Hawkins was too lost in thought. It was like a candle flickering against a tornado and struggling to stay alight. But strangely, his fatigue began to lessen.
"Let your gaze guide him away from his last moments and towards those who do not forget him. May Sleek be remembered for who he was not who he was forced into being."
The familiar baritone woke the Mediator from his trance, startled a little by Hack's eerily silent arrival and sudden interruption. The Sand Wraith stood solitary as a protective force to help guide the Tinker Mole to where he misplaced and keep the flow of the prayer until Gidget got his confidence back.
"I, Gidget of the Labyrinth below, recognises the passing of Traited Sleek as an honorary Crafter of the Earth. Here a Miner rests. Let him remain as such."
The final line of the prayer ricocheted across the clearing, ringing and rebounding in his brain like a pounding drumbeat. It was familiar yet strange but the power in that last phrase was unmistakable. It came from necromancy.
Almost like a Lockbind, it felt tied to the very being of the earth like an unspoken promise. Hidden from plain sight but still rooted within the many cultures within this realm. If Gidget's prayer was anything to go by, Craft itself had been influenced by the very thing hundreds had tried to stamp out.
"Well said, Tinker Mole. Looks like Axis agreed with you. The Fatekeeper would be proud." Hack noted, his gaze fixated only on the Tinker Mole despite the scene behind him.
The different styles of Trait, Craft and Pulse melded into a quiet shroud of Solaris flowers and knee height mist surrounding the small gravestone. Now it was more than a marker. It was why that last line had so much heart behind it, why the hidden phraseology within the prayer was so prominent to him. Because people like Sleek deserved to be remembered.
"My uncle could've done it better but…that was my first attempt at an Ironthorn Passage on my own. I hope…I hope I did my ancestors justice." Gidget admitted nervously, smiling gratefully at the Sand Wraith.
Hawkins stared at the Tinker Mole, disorientated by the unfamiliar Nocturian ceremony but way over his head as to remembering to ask for Axis' permission. Attempting to clear the sleep from his eyes, he clenched his nose to try and lessen the tension unsuccessfully.
"For someone who's never done it before, you certainly know your stuff when it comes to a good Soulcatcher Grove. I'd be happy to stop here if I was a spirit." Hack said, much happier talking to the young wannabe druid.
Hawkins couldn't clear his head, his eyes drifting back to the discreet memoriam made for Sleek with the combination of three conflicting abilities. The thought of such a volatile mix of personalities converging into such a beautiful sight went against everything he was told about necromancy. But he had been wrong about a lot of things the past few days.
"What…what is it?"
The Mediator was mystified by the growing plants surrounding the small plinth still unsure what to make of it all. As the seconds ticked by, more and more stones began to emerge. They burrowed up from the earth like the wick of a Flickerwick candle gathering ivy and plant life from thin air.
As if plucked from the forests of Nocturus the grassy knoll of wild grasses and rockery began to glow with anticipation. Awaking sleepily from its cocoon of light and happiness, minute globes of Trait started to settle amongst ferns and tombstones before finally settling on a more comfortable, buoyant form of a playful spirit. Trollians.
"It's the beginning of a mass grave. Protected by Trait, Craft and necromancy. Or Pulse, if you prefer." Gidget explained nonchalantly as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
It took a moment for Hawkins' vision to readjust, the brightly searing forms of the sentient smoke trolls gathering itself from smoke stacks and chimneys nearby. Digits emerged, fights erupted but the more the Mediator watched in awe the less he understood about how they came to life. After all, he had never seen a Trollian's life cycle before.
His breath rapidly formed clouds of mist that billowed into the cold air, the brief spark he felt he almost grasped died as his exhaustion hit full force. Blinking it away, the thin gossamer layer around the Trollians forms began to shimmer, a thread of red bloomed into being and for a moment he swore he saw something more…human.
"The Undercity doesn't have a place like that." Cull interrupted, folding his arms and inclined his head towards the grove of gravestones.
Hawkins flinched at the Enforcers tone, sounding a little more standoffish than before but compared to having him strung up like a pig it was certainly an improvement. He angrily watched the Trollians drift towards the grove curiously, spawning more and more often as Cull struggled to grasp how he felt about the little blobs of spirits.
The Infernal Triad hovered close to its holder, the smoke trolls weaving around the book despite the interest. Perhaps Cull felt uneasy as he did about the display of unfamiliar necromancy, not really sure what to make of the discovery. But if that were the case he'd be just as angry at Hack than a random graveside. He seemed lost. Just as lost as he was.
A flash of candlelight brought Hawkins to a haze of monochrome. It was a clearing he didn't recognise but somehow knew, shaded in trees bigger than he'd ever seen. Candles were placed much like the small pocket of earth they had just conjured but empty and devoid of any flame that stretched long past his vision. The Glowing Fields.
This time, he had the awareness to know it was a memory frozen in time but it didn't make it any less daunting to experience. It was a mass grave untempered by the elements but still worn away by an unknown force, soulless and not a Trollian in sight. Shuriken.
"I guess, now we do."
Rin's gentle solemn voice brought the Mediator back from the edge of his mind, as if experiencing a daydream he had no control over. Struggling to maintain his composure, Hawkins Smoke Trait burst from his hands and surrounded the area but soon a reassuring claw reached out to temper it. Hack.
"Do you see them?"
The Sand Wraith's voice was barely audible, his claw pointed towards a peripheral Hawkins couldn't detect. But the scarlet thread he had pictured before flickered into life, weaving its way into the sea of Trollians. He darted from side to side, almost expecting the frozen form of Mantis mid laugh, Rin close by her side with her head on her shoulder to dodge a sly bullet mid air and strayed from his target. Hack and Hawkins were the only one's present to see the smoke trolls now.
They were nothing more than a party trick for the Enforcers, dancing jovially with others of their kin around the sombre stone of growing gravestones. Until the lowest point of the day washed over them in peeling darkness giving way to a brief flash of light with the guiding light of the Hanging Sun.
Like a Light Traited changing filter on a light show, the smoke trolls became almost drawn to the light and warped into a translucent form unlike any other. Hawkins nodded at his mentor, his movements slow and pronounced like he had momentarily forgotten how to move.
The Trollians he had grown up with so fondly in his childhood took on an entirely different meaning as their spirits portrayed who they used to be. Dragonic. Traited. Enforcers. With the sunlights rays, they became undone with the necromancy, the betraying Pulse that repeated against his heart. The Truants were no more.
Part of Hawkins had hoped to see his father's spirit among the collection, the celebration of the Soulcatcher Grove becoming more and more vibrant as they grew in number. Hawkins watched intently, Hack's eyes mirrored with emotion as his gaze fell upon a young woman chatting to an aquamarine dragon no bigger than the stone it was perched on.
The wrinkles under her eyes seemed to shimmer under the grayscale light on her face, every detail of her black hair and grey greenish eyes smiling back at him. It was eerie yet comforting to know a necromancer could become such a carefree spirit but the Sand Wraith's haunted, troubled reaction niggled at his brain. Hack knew her and somehow he did too.
His eyes drifted away from his mentor's melancholy, the familiar sight of a woman nursing a small baby in her arms. She smiled unlike anything he had ever seen, her purpose fulfilled just by holding a young child in her arms. It was like she had never smiled before, her long hair pulled back into a messy bun as she pulled away the straggling, mist made strands of hair from her fringe.
Hawkins' breath escaped his lungs, the dreary, grief ridden Organa now looking upon the very child she had fought so hard to save. Safe and warm nestled within her grasp like all the pain and suffering of her Trait had now left her. The water pooled beneath the nooks and crannies Reina's rainstorm had left them, unperturbed by the ex Blood Traited. She didn't need blood anymore.
"I see them. I see them, Hack."
The relief that left his lungs were more joyous than any amount of rest he could've gotten right now. The broken forms of the Truants now faded into the background as forms of the Trollians, awakened from their simplistic visions.
The large form of the female brawler rested her back against a jagged slab of rock, her weapon-like prosthetic long abandoned. Her fellow dragons surrounded her to the point where her arm attempting to pet her could barely keep up but she still tried to play with them.
A young boy a little older than Sleek had been sitting atop another stone tablet, rocking back and forth carelessly juggling incorporeal rocks that phased through his hands. His rust coloured dragon darted about to try and bite the food looking items but continued to dance about with its friends and snuggled against the kind hearted barbarian.
"Then you know what we need to do."
Hack tapped a claw against his lip, leaning back against his seat as if to signify the importance of staying quiet. Hawkins sighed, his heart sank but the incredibly moving sight of the fallen Truant Enforcers now free from their contracts clutches. Yet they still stayed together.
The candle Hack had placed flickered lazily alongside the rest of them, the rousing party of spirits: Traited and dragon alike. Hawkins didn't know how the Soulcatcher candles worked to summon and somehow transform the Trollians to the spirits of the Undercity but for the first time in a long time, he didn't care.
Hack rested an arm against his as the Smoke Traited leaned into it, watching the festivities unfold as the sound of the bickering twins returned from the unknown stasis they were locked in. Another mystery to solve another time.
"You OK, Mantis?" Hawkins asked, turning back to the strangely quiet Air Traited.
Hack knocked elbows with him as they both turned around to face the group, now clustered together around a dwindling fire. Blaize had fallen asleep with Thea buried in her fur, sticking close to the minuscule fire Cull had conjured while Hazard rolled around for a makeshift dust bath.
Mantis remained close to a drowsy Rin, resting against her shoulder as they watched the dying flames dwindle out into ash. Shuffling around to try and get into a more comfortable spot, his eyes fell on her newly healed injuries still crusted over with dried blood. She looked lost in thought, blinking slowly at the embers before flinching at the sound of Hawkins voice.
"What I don't get is why Cricket abandoned her brother in the first place?"
"Mantis!"
Rin awoke to reprimand the Air Traited, Mantis immediately getting flustered by her sudden annoyance.
"No, no I don't mean like that. It just..if she wanted Memoriam to resurrect him then why leave him to fight off Hack alone?"
Her musings seemed to settle Rin's ire enough to involve the others in the discussion, the Tinker Mole settling down on a little stone seat of his own making.
"Maybe she couldn't handle him two on one? Hack is pretty handy in a fight."
Hawkins noted the Sand Wraith's scales flash a deep red wine of embarrassment, busying his claws by picking at his new stone leg. The Smoke Traited couldn't help but notice, nudging him a little as he smirked.
"But she had what she wanted, right? Why wait to use Transference and get them both out of there immediately?" Mantis added, still trying to understand how these events had transpired.
She did have a point. With Gizmo's betrayal, Reina's skill and Cricket's pure power they could've easily taken the black grimoire to the Overtaken long before Hack had gotten involved. If they had fled just a few moments before using Transference there was no way anyone could have reached her in time.
Perhaps, Memoriam couldn't be used in Transference or just like before Cricket's aversion to the grimoire, to remember what had happened to her was so strong she fled instead of achieving her goal. But explaining that without the context of the memories he had seen would be near impossible.
"Maybe it's the same reason why we couldn't Transference here. Cricket could have a deeper connection to the Overtaken than we thought. They do show up as soon as she needs them." Cull mentioned nonchalantly,
Cull's interaction startled the group, unsure of his change since being tied up and stranded after Gizmo's explosions. Perhaps he had abandoned his standoff nature when the Tinker Mole had tricked them but the likelihood of Hazard talking some sense into him was probably why.
"What do you mean?" Hawkins asked, the Fire Traited still irritated no one else had noticed it.
He folded his arms, kicking at the scuffed gravel near the fire pit as his sister's Firestep wolf growled at him. Cull rolled his eyes at Hazard, sighing as he did so before elaborating.
"Mantis told me how you first found them. You really think it's a coincidence we've run into them three times without so much as a sighting of Cricket until now?"
Cull's simple statement astounded the Mediator for several seconds, mentally face palming himself for completely forgetting the discussion with Mantis and Gizmo. It could've been the sheer panic and fear that had happened over the last few battles that seemed endless at the time.
"You mentioned not being able to use Transference to get yourselves out but all your partners are right here. I can't due to distance and neither can Hawkins. So why can't you?" Hack interrupted, annoyed at Cull's tone and remained defensive.
The gravel strewed ground began to shake ominously, another red thread flickering as Hawkins turned his attention to the veneer of protection Hack had conjured around the Grove. It was like Axis had let out a breath of relief to allow the group one final breather but as quickly as the red thread revealed itself it unwound itself and disappeared.
"We're not the Regent of Opalis, Sand Wraith. We can't go wherever we want, y'know? I can only swap places with Thea to get to where she is. Otherwise, we'd be out of Axis by now."
Mantis' usual pissy attitude seemed to temper a little, the Sand Wraith's anger trying to grasp her explanation. Hack eyes kept flickering to the Soulcatcher Grove but the spirits were long gone now, heading along a different path.
Hawkins completely understood the drawbacks of their partners, completely defeating the purpose of Hack's argument. It took him a moment to remember how the other Enforcers kept theirs away, a flash of dread hit the pit of his stomach as he completely forgot to relay that to Hack.
"We don't have the connections like you do. When the fights get harder and the chances of survival gets slimmer we do what we can to keep ourselves alive. Even if it puts our partner at risk." Rin continued, the wolves growling and snapping at each other playfully.
The two wolves agree begrudgingly, glaring at the Mediator briefly before Hazard thwacked his sister with his tail before giving Hawkins a brief nod and settled back down to sleep. The Mediator gave Blaize a wry smile, the Firestep wolf huffing as he did so before she headed off to patrol the area.
He fidgeted a little with his sleeves, awkwardly being reminded of his position as his mind wandered to his long discarded and burnt Mediator jacket. Instinctively, he dug around for his badge and let out a sigh of relief but Blaize's reaction still left a bad taste in his mouth.
He knew how privileged a position he was in, especially in the Undercity but as his smoke surrounded his vision once more he willingly allowed the strange images to take hold. The flash of fire was quickly immersed by a torrent of wind and rain that clung to his bones and recalled the storm that had ripped through Beggar's End like a Scale Shrieker dragon. But this one wasn't as strong.
Among abandoned hovels and burnt up sheets of tarpaulin a much younger half elf clung to the restraints around her arms in an attempt to silence the chains. Her eyes were desperate to escape even within the clutches of a deadly storm, her eyes flashing blue as she attempted to harness whatever abilities that lay dormant within her. Nothing happened.
A sharp whip of flame suddenly coiled around her neck, choking whatever spell she had attempted out of her breath as a stocky but bedraggled person grabbed her and dragged her away from the surrounding gloom. Latching the dangling chain from the struggling child she was strapped to a group of whimpering kids no older than she was.
Hawkins' eyes were glued to the train of children barely trudging along like a morbid conga line, from the twins right at the end of the line to the only kid still moving. A young brown haired girl attempted to shield them from the storm, clutching another blonde girl's hand as she tried to tug at the front girl's sodden, indigo jumper.
The sole adult slave trader tugged on the Trait he was gifted with as the chains burned with ire and the tortured group began to scream and were tugged along and back into the mist once more. The Smoke Traited sat alone for several moments, waiting until he watched the lines split off into two, leaving the half elf and twins away from the strong headed girl and her blonde haired companion.
Towards the Caldorian border.
"Then we don't have a lot of time. Cull, you and your sister have done enough. Get your wolves to lead you out and go. I'll hold them off."
Hack's shadow burst through the dense fog of Mantis' memory, standing in front of him protectively just like he did when he was a child. Instead of the monstrosity before him, the thick, grey smoke that had filtered into his vision was now tinged green.
"Not a chance, Sand Wraith. If Rin stays, I stay. Anyways, someone has to tease her about her choice of a girlfriend."
Cull and Hack were having a face off, Blaize's warnings howl's ringing in his ears despite never hearing it himself.
Mantis glared in Cull's general direction, midway through helping Rin to her feet but stumbling a little from equilibrium.
"Hey!"
"Gidget, you'll need to go ahead so the guild'll listen. I'll find Gizmo and meet you there after I deal with him." Hack continued, attempting to take charge by completely ignoring the others.
The tension in the air exploded into a tailwind of sheer concussive force, Mantis stepping in front of the Sand Wraith and jabbing a finger into his chest.
"Bullshit. I don't doubt you can handle him but we already know the Gadgeteers will lock you up as soon as you show your scaly face. All I care about is getting all of us out of here alive. Including you, Hackerby."
Her words brought Hawkins into the present as if to announce herself regardless of what past he had seen through Memoriam. Her eyes were a blazing green, stubborn and determined despite all the injuries and arguments they had been through. She chose what she wanted to do.
"But...he's a necromancer-"
"Who clearly knows a lot more about this than any of us do. Heck, you trusted me even though I'm a half elf, Torecaster with a winning personality. It's my turn, damnit."
The Sand Wraith blinked several times, not quite computing Mantis' sudden change of heart but it wasn't until Hawkins started laughing did he join in. It was the first time anyone had used Hack's full name with anything but disdain.
"Torecaster?" Cull inquired, completely bypassing the main topic of conversation.
"Traited and Forecaster. Torecaster. Rin came up with it."
The Fire Traited bashfully turned away from the group, still unnerved by the emerald mist surrounding the Soulcatcher Grove but thankfully unable to breach Hack's strange protective enchantment.
"I like it." Rin replied cheerfully, her brother giving her the complete opposite response.
"It sounds dumb."
Rin's expression goes from red with embarrassment to red with anger as the twins start bickering for the hundredth time.
"Either tell us what to do or tell us what's going on so we can help, Hackerby." Mantis continued over the twins arguing, trying to get through to the stubborn Sand Wraith.
For once, Hack didn't get pissed straight away but sighed bitterly and gave one last look at Hawkins. His eyes were sunken, visibly exhausted and frazzled by this unearthing of his necromancy but all he saw was his mentor, kind and gruff but with more heart than anyone we ever knew.
He gave the wary Sand Wraith a warm smile which startles Hack more than any encouraging words ever could. A big breath of air wrenched loose from Hack's nostrils in frustration, cricking his neck back and brushing away the tears from his eyes.
"If Odi tells them what she knows we're all done for. Truants will be the last of our worries. We need to get the black grimoire out of here before Axis crumbles for good."
"Why? What is so important to keep secret that you'd risk all our lives?" Cull demanded, bringing his attention away from his sister for the moment.
For the first time in a long time their roles were reversed as Hack struggled to find a form of words that best suited his dilemma. But he couldn't. With a stark bolt of realisation, Hawkins looked down at his still numb hand, once a crumbling pile of ash at his feet and raised it into the air.
"Me."
Hawkins' dull tone hung in the air for several seconds, the only thought crossing his mind was Lockbind be damned.
"What?"
Mantis' response was immediately hostile but this time Hawkins didn't back down, all of the information he had gathered rushing through his head to form a decent reply.
"I'm Triad to the black grimoire…somehow. It won't leave without me, Hack won't leave without Odi and I won't leave without him. But you probably already knew that, right Hack?"
"I did, boyo. I'm sorry it had to come to this but…"
Hack couldn't say anymore, looking down at his claws in shame. Hawkins had no idea how to begin, the twins Infernal Triad hovering over them dramatically, as if to mock his situation.
"It's been giving me all these memories and Cricket thinks I can open it. Apparently, I'm some kind of Bookkeeper and Odi knows all about it and I have no idea why that's so important but...."
Hack finally found his voice, easing the Smoke Traited into calming down and breathing steadily.
"It's important because Cricket was supposed to be the Bookkeeper until...well, things went wrong. She wants what you have. The ability to connect with other grimoires and eventually, use them yourself."
"That's insane." Cull interrupted, Hawkins being completely blindsided by that information.
Hack merely shrugged, one eye on Hawkins just in case he started panicking again but he continued to stare into space.
"That's what happens when there's a Trait imbalance. The Laia tends to try and make up the difference. It's how the Dual Traited first started, after all."
"Which is why Cricket is so powerful but can't control it very well." Rin added in a small voice, Mantis permanently silenced by the entire conversation.
Hack made a face that would've made him laugh had Hawkins not heard the whole 'use them yourself line.' The magnitude of such an ability broke even his well constructed thought process, his head in his hands to try and move past such a mental block.
"Not exactly. I could tell you but..."
"But you can't say shit about it even if you wanted to in case it triggers the Lockbind and kills more than just Sleek?"
Cull's common fucking sense baffled the more logically inclined Mediators, surprised he had figured it out so quickly. Despite his rudeness had clearly laid everything out far easier than Hack or Hawkins could ever attempt. Perhaps, he really did know more than he let on.
"Pretty much, yeah. It's why Cricket's remembering things differently because...her Master did something she shouldn't have." Hack explained awkwardly, attempting to dodge the potential pitfalls of the word based curse.
Hawkins took a deep breath inwards and tried to reach for the similar feeling of calm he achieved during the Ironthorn Passage but his mind was blurred by recollections that weren't his. A flash of light helixing into a cold mesh of blinding blue and raging orange that fizzled out and was simply left with a dull hue of dwindling green.
"I know what happened. Memoriam showed me but...it wasn't her Master necessarily. It was someone else who said she could heal her but...did something else. The black grimoire...it's trying to fix what they did but...it's bigger than just that. It's…"
Hack quickly cut in to try and reminded him, eyes wide in horror.
"No more, boyo. Any more and you might-"
The Sand Wraith was cut off with the sound of clicking fingers, a small gust of air bursting into life.
"That's why you're the Bookkeeper. You can avoid the Lockbind with your overthinking." Mantis exclaimed, laughing joyously as she did so as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Gidget tittered alongside her, trying to nod in agreement as his claws clicked together nervously despite the increasingly puzzled looks the duo received.
"Wow. How clear is that explanation?" Cull joked, completely unaware of the dwindling rain melting Hack's conjured barrier.
"Exceedingly clear, actually."