Banshee didn't find him.
Some thirty minutes later when the bells of the Starlight Hall began to chime, Banshee gave the lonely, darkened hallway she stood in one, final glance before sheathing her daggers and heading back. She held the hope that maybe, somehow, one of the others had a lead, but some other part of her already knew the truth.
After spotting Cryo alone by the stairs of the Starlight Hall, she jumped off the rooftop and landed beside him, giving him a small shake of her head when he turned his head towards her.
"We didn't find anything either," said Cryo.
Banshee sucked in a breath and nodded. "Only way he escaped us is with the Serpent's help or the understreets. I tried to find an entrance and get in there, but the shadows below the ground are almost solid."
"We assumed as much," said Cryo. "DragonFae attempted a scrying and various spells to locate Wyvern but they were all ineffective. When you didn't respond to my taps, we rang the bells."
Banshee's chest felt tight. "I didn't feel any taps."
Cryo lifted a claw and struck his tattoo once. "Did you--"
"No."
Cryo paused as Banshee rubbed her hands over her face, her knuckles touching the inside of her visor as she fought not to rip it off and scream.
Then, in a voice like soft snow, he asked, "How are you?"
"I'm..."
She stopped herself from saying fine. She gave herself a moment to take a breath, to assess how she really felt, and found everything more than a little mixed up. She took her hands off her face and took a step closer to Cryo.
"I, um," she said, biting her lip as she looked up at him. "Not great." She hesitated, dropping her gaze, not quite able to hold his the way she wanted to. "Can I, um, have a hug?"
Cryo didn't even hesitate, didn't scold her about priorities or ask why. He just reached out, stepped closer, wrapped his arms tight around her and pulled her into his chest.
Banshee pressed her forehead against him, closed her eyes and held onto her partner like he was the one thing keeping her solid. She felt his heartbeat, heard the whispers of his song, tangled within the layered melodies of shadows that echoed through her mind.
"Reality check?" she mumbled into his tunic.
"Reality check."
"You're Jason?"
"I am."
Her brain didn't like that for some reason, but she trusted him enough to tell her brain to shove it. "And I'm Banshee?"
"You are."
"And I'm transformed right now?"
"Yes," said Cryo. "A little different from your usual, but you certainly seemed able to handle Skinwalker alone."
"I think I transformed using the Shadowsong," she said, focusing on the feel of his tunic under her fingers. It was real. It was familiar. The clean, pure scent of the gentle frost that crept over her skin, protecting her like it protected the most fragile sprouts from the harshest weather. "Viri isn't part of this. I Screamed before, and I'm not dim yet."
"Perhaps it's how the Serpent is creating Luminaries," said Cryo. "Hydra, Skinwalker--both were able to use their ultimates without sacrificing their transformations."
"So I'm not crazy?"
"Not crazy."
They remained like that a moment longer, until Banshee's chest relaxed, until she felt like she could breathe without gasping for air.
This was real, she told herself, over and over again. This was real.
"Fantastic," said Banshee. She pulled back from the hug and pressed her hands against Cryo's chest, flicking her gaze from one finger to the next without much thought to what she was doing. "So Wyvern really did steal Nereid's Ascended."
"If the civilian is to be believed, yes."
Banshee reached for her daggers. "I'm gonna kill that stupid bat."
"That may not be the best course of action," said Cryo, his eyes on the daggers. "If nothing else, Wyvern's involvement proves Adande's innocence."
"Or it's yet another convoluted plot and I'm gonna stab pretty boy Adande right after I stab that Other-cursed hypocrite of a bat."
Cryo raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't even stab Skinwalker when you were fighting her."
"Oh, I stabbed her," said Banshee, twirling Grief. "She just shifted out of it, and after that, we had an audience."
Her partner paused for a moment, watching her with the slightest frown before he turned his gaze to the peak and slowly shook his head from side to side. "Skypillar help me, my partner has become a psychopath."
"I really don't think you want to be asking Skypillar for help on that matter," Banshee said lightly, sheathing her daggers once more as Cryo gave her a curious look. She shrugged it off, chewing on the side of her lip. She'd have to figure out what to do about that information later. "Don't worry, not gonna stab anyone without good reason. Besides, I'd have to find the bastards first."
"We may have a lead to find Wyvern," said Cryo. "However, it's from the Lumi Hunters, so we aren't sure how reliable it is."
"But it's the only one we have, right?" said Banshee. Cryo nodded. She exhaled. "So we're all on the same page before we march into a room full of fanatics, what did the civilian tell you guys?"
"The civilian, Lara Aquaheart, informed us that she was in the storage room when another girl entered," said Cryo. "Lara didn't see who it was, only heard her talking on her Liaiser, when another man followed the girl in, turned off the lights, and attacked the girl. There was a scuffle, the man handcuffed both girls to filing cabinets away from each other, and shortly after you entered, asking about Nereid. The girl said something that Lara didn't catch, you freed the other girl, then came back for Lara and jumped her to the rooftop to inform Pegasus of what had happened while you searched."
"Gotcha," said Banshee, committing 'Lara's story to memory. "Sounds about right. Now, onto the next order of business: getting useful information out of a room full of fanatics."
"Are you ready?" asked Cryo.
Even with the situation, the stress, the stakes, and her mind wandering off to a million scenarios where this wasn't real and she woke up to the Serpent's eyes, the small little smile resting on the corner of Cryo's mouth right now was enough that it nearly killed her with sheer relief.
She was mangled and scarred, bruised and barely holding it together, and he still looked at her like that.
Banshee winked at him and touched two fingers to her forehead. "Don't worry, I'm well-versed in speaking to fanatical morons after these past few weeks."
She meant the confidence, but even so, when Cryo held out a silent arm and gave her a meaningful look just as she was about to turn away, she still stepped closer to him and let him pull her in for one last, one-armed hug.
"You've got this," he murmured into the top of her head.
"We got this," she replied, leaning her head onto his chest for a close-eyed moment. "Just please don't leave me alone with a bunch of crazy fanatics again. Please."
"Never again."
The moment held for a few, brief heartbeats of quiet, before they broke away and together, they strode into the Starlight Hall.
It was getting far too normal to see so many extra people in the Starlight Hall for Banshee to be surprised by it. At least five completely non-Manifested High Speakers bustled about, sending other Speakers and Pillarguards off in various directions. DragonFae and Golem were at the centre of the madness, speaking to a pair of individuals Banshee didn't recognise. Their conversation was sectioned off by a faint, violet shimmer in the air around them that muffled their words and blurred their lips to the outside world.
DragonFae inclined her head in greeting as Banshee and Cryo approached, and the haze of violet magic quickly expanded to bring them in.
"Banshee, Cryo," said DragonFae. "I take it you were both unsuccessful?"
"Entirely," said Banshee, pulling a face.
DragonFae nodded. "Then we'll proceed as planned." She gestured towards the two individuals that Banshee didn't recognise. "This is Paige and Ulric, both high-ranking members within the Luminary Hunters."
Banshee glanced them over as DragonFae spoke.
They didn't look like they were part of the Lumi Hunters. In her mind, they were borderline crazed fans, the kind of people who would do anything to get hold of a piece of Luminary hair, then hoard it in a jar for the rest of their lives. They were reckless and wild, fanatical and insane. Their meetups created riots. Their claims created chaos.
The two individuals who stood in front of her now, regarding her with a steady kind of determination as she looked them over, didn't match the image in her head at all.
Both wore almost militaristic uniforms consisting of combat boots, pants, fingerless gloves, and a long-sleeve tunic that had armour-like padding on the forearms, shoulders, shins, with a high-backed, protective collar. The pouches around their waist were sewn close and clean. The man's uniform was in Archangel's typical colours, while the woman's was in Gryphon's, her blonde hair caught in a bun behind her head and tied with a pale purple ribbon.
They stood straight and attentive, and for the lack of a better description, they looked ready for a fight.
"As the situation stands," continued DragonFae. "Pegasus is watching the civilian who was present when Wyvern attacked Nereid. The civilian assured us that Nereid is in a safe location--Banshee, can you confirm?"
Keeping Cryo's version of the story in mind, Banshee said, "Yes, she's about as safe as I can make her. I checked on her a few times. Didn't get a good look at her, so her identity is safe from me, at least."
"Good," said DragonFae. "Apparently, the Luminary Hunters know where Wyvern went, though--"
"Though we aren't sharing the location until we get proof," said the woman, Paige, meeting Banshee's eyes.
Banshee reassessed her previous judgement. There was something fanatical about them, the kind that would lead them to die for a cause, but it wasn't lunacy that brought them there. "Proof about what?"
"That you are the real Banshee, and that you are not corrupted by the Other," said Ulric. "Our Order seeks to watch the watchers, to ensure that those with power remain just in their cause. We would remain hidden, however, given the events of tonight, our leaders thought it best that we intervene. If we see fit, we may offer aid to you, but first we require proof that you have not been led astray, Shadow of Skypillar."
"Right," said Banshee. "And how do you want me to prove it?"
"It is not our job to provide you with the means to your innocence."
"It is when you're accusing me," said Banshee. She kept her cool, letting the chill of Cryo's aura just behind her seep into her skin, to keep her grounded. She wasn't alone. She wasn't crazy. "Otherwise I should be able to say 'I'm not corrupted' and you're obligated to believe it."
Paige and Ulric glanced at each other. "For now, we would accept any kind of physical proof, and be willing to accept the consensus of the other Luminaries that it is true."
Banshee reached into her pocket where she'd stashed the Liaiser. "Earlier tonight when I was fighting Skinwalker, she started some mind games trying to convince people she was the real Banshee, so I decided to record part of our interaction. Here." She passed them the Liaiser, video ready to play. "I uploaded it on the net already just to ensure I wouldn't lose it--since it's Olivia's Liaiser, it's on her account."
They watched the video, scrolling, zooming, and pausing over certain parts more than others as they continued to ask questions. "Olivia Shadowheart? She was present when Skinwalker appeared?"
"Yep," said Banshee. "For the record: the Olivia Shadowheart that ran off after the fight at the Core Chamber was Skinwalker. I hid the real Olivia elsewhere to keep her safe."
"Can you produce Olivia to prove your claim?"
"Nope," said Banshee. "I can't risk that you're Serpent people. You can verify it with her later when we sort this out."
"Why has your transformation changed?"
"A Luminary's transformation can change as they grow in experience and knowledge," said Golem. "We are able to consciously alter it ourselves, but given Banshee's recent experiences, I can't imagine that's the reason for its change."
"Torture tends to change a person," said Banshee flatly, holding Ulric's stare until he looked back down to the video. "And as you can see, Skinwalker's blood is black in her various shifts." She swept a hand under her chin where Skinwalker's daggers had left a thin slice through the skin. "Here, we have lovely, red, dried blood."
The pair of Lumi Hunters passed the Liaiser back to Banshee. "For now, this is all we can ask of you without the time to verify such things, so we will share what we know. After recent events, both attacking and Manifesting civilians as well as her crimes against the auroras, our leaders decreed that the Banshee responsible for those actions was no longer worthy of her power."
Banshee lifted a cautious hand. "You know that wasn't me, right? It was--"
"We have evidence of Skinwalker shifting from Banshee into other civilians in previous appearances, so we were aware that there was an imposter," continued Paige. "We have dubbed Skinwalker's false Banshee the 'Panshee', a pseudo-Banshee, if you will. After her appearance at the temple tonight, we had intended to handle her ourselves, but then she met up with Wyvern, real name Michael Poisonheart, and our leaders decided it best to wait and see how deep the net truly went."
"Can I ask what you mean by 'handle it yourselves'?" asked Golem.
Ulric narrowed his eyes. "We are not at liberty to discuss our contingency plans with those they are for."
"I only meant that they've given us trouble handling, and how--"
"We are not here to share methods, only information," Paige cut in. "Skinwalker and Wyvern were seen entering a strange passage, carrying what we believe to be an extra large fragment. Despite various attempts, we were unsuccessful in gaining entry. We believe it may be the Serpent's lair."
The last sentence had a solid lump of dread sinking into Banshee's stomach, dragging every piece of her down again with it. She'd go in there again, she would, but--
The weight of Cryo's claws settled on her shoulder, and she allowed herself to breathe.
His voice echoed through her head like he'd spoken out loud. Together or nothing.
"Where was this passage?" asked DragonFae, her words a little more clipped than they'd been before.
"Across the lower Celestial's Fall lake, behind the falls and above water level," said Ulric. "It's almost completely concealed by a variety of vegetation and is difficult to reach without Luminary abilities or specialised equipment."
DragonFae turned to Golem, her violet face paling as she reached up and grabbed her horns--something Banshee had never thought she'd see the elegant, composed DragonFae do.
DragonFae's voice was little more than a horrified whisper as she said, "Starsong save us, they've gone into the ruins."
"Ruins?" asked Paige. "Why would there be--"
With a small, frantic shake of her head, DragonFae waved a hand in the direction of the Lumi Hunters. The purple sparks through the air shifted, cutting the Hunters out of the conversation no matter how hard they attempted to get through.
"Cryo," said DragonFae. "Do you remember when you told us an Ascended had to be returned to the heart to reset? Did your Ascended say which heart?"
"No," said Cryo. "What do you mean, 'which heart'?"
Golem glanced at DragonFae, whose hands were back on her horns, her eyes closed and her lips moving.
"Harpy mentioned she'd told Cryo of the ruins," said Golem, almost apologetically. He looked to Banshee. "We believe the ruins are from the first civilisation. They lay beneath the Celestial's Eye, but they are far, far too dangerous to enter without exceptional cause, such as retrieving an aurorastone--the focuser. From what Harpy was able to tell us, they are found in a chamber, close to a large, dark piece of starstone, and we have reason to believe it may be the heart."
"I thought you said the heart was within the Core Chamber," said Cryo.
"There's two heart stones," said Banshee, remembering what Stefan had told her. "There's one within the Core Chamber, and there's one within the mountain." She looked up, finding the Luminaries looking at her for an explanation. "When I was--" She swallowed. "The Serpent... he told me things."
Not exactly the truth, but close enough. From the sound of Stefan's story of Aurora, the Serpent already knew everything within it. She didn't have any solid proof, but there was some feeling lodged deep in her gut that knew.
Which also brought the next thought to the front of her mind: The second heartstone inside the mountain was Skypillar's--Skypillar, who had been corrupted by Envy.
"So Wyvern's struck a bargain with the Serpent to take him to the heart and heal Kael?" asked Cryo. "What does that accomplish for the Serpent?"
"Regardless, if the Serpent wants it, it's probably not good for us," said Golem. He glanced at Fae, who had finally released her horns and set her mouth in a grim line. "I know it's not customary, Fae, but perhaps we should bring reinforcements this one time."
"We can't take more than necessary into the ruins," said DragonFae. "The things inside learn. If we take Banshee and Cryo in, they will only struggle more once it is their turn to retrieve the aurora stones in coming years. This burden is the least we can do for them while we're still Luminaries."
"You don't even know if we'll require aurora stones in the future," said Cryo. "We don't know if the same Luminary pairs will be Ascended or that we'll be the same. What we do know is that if we fail tonight, we have one less Luminary in the future."
Banshee pressed her lips together tight as the others talked. Part of her wanted to tell them everything Stefan had said--while something else in her, some deeper instinct she couldn't quite place was desperate to keep her silent.
For now, she decided, the information she had wasn't going to change their plan. They still needed to stop Wyvern from reaching the heart with Nereid's Ascended. There'd be time for decisions and explanations later, once she'd had time to breathe for two seconds without something new blowing up in her face.
Hopefully.
"Fine," said DragonFae. "The four of us will go into the ruins and retrieve the Ascended from Wyvern. Let's move. We have no time to waste."
*+*+*+*
A/N - Sorry updates have been a bit lacking, but we're hopefully back on track with one a week now until the end of B3~! Thanks for waiting <3
PSA: Indigo (new shiny version) is now a webcomic drawn by the heckin' amazing 46kibahime. THE ART IS GORGEOUS.
If you'd like to check it out, it's being posted on Instagram & Webtoons! @colourverseindigo [Links in comment >>]