Perhaps we could return the book back to where it was stolen from. The House of Thanatos didn't sound inviting at all, but if we could somehow return it to them without them learning about us, it might be enough to stop all of this. It wouldn't take care of the two demons or stop them from seeking retribution, but it was a start. Perhaps a note could be included with the names of the demons who were looking for it, and things would be sorted out themselves...
My head was pulled violently to the present as Viki's slot completely disappeared from the party view right before we stepped outside of the dungeon.
Her wife came to her senses momentarily. There was something in her eyes. A certain sadness that could only be explained by her knowing what had happened.
"My love. My Viki!" she cried out, and she reached her hand out toward the dungeon as Rory carried her away.
We went straight back to my apartment and let Yelena take one of the rooms to continue her self-treatment, trying to shapeshift out the sickness from the zombie bites. The rest of us attempted to gather our thoughts about what had happened.
Each of us had claimed a different spot in the living room, pondering over the implications of today's events. Leo had taken a large armchair and placed it in front of one of the huge windows overlooking the park. He was holding onto a cup of hot cocoa and staring silently down at people in the streets below that seemed like insects from up here, both due to their size but also their ignorance of the true world that existed right in front of their eyes, completely unbeknown to them.
Rory tried to instill some calm and cool-headedness by buying an awful lot of food and forcing us all to eat. An hour had passed since then though, and he was still sitting by the kitchen aisle eating one burger after another, only taking breaks to smoke his pipe. However, the most disconcerting thing about his behavior was that he was completely silent, which was perhaps why he kept eating. It was the perfect excuse to not engage in conversation.
Louie was probably the calmest of us all. He was sitting on the couch, his eyes closed but not in deep sleep, probably waiting for the other shoe to drop when Yelena woke up. This didn't take too long to happen.
The doppelgänger managed to cure herself of the sickness and joined us, her cheeks and eyes sunken to the point that her face resembled a skull. She could barely walk straight, but when Rory moved to help her she just raised her hand to stop him. She walked over to one of the chairs and sat there, looking at each one of us in turn.
"Are you the ones who rescued me?" she asked, her voice hoarse and followed by a fit of coughing.
"Yes," I said. "Are you healed?"
"I am," she replied, her voice significantly weaker now. "How did she die?"
"I'm sorry about--" I tried to say.
"How did she die?" she repeated, stressing every word, her fingers going white as she squeezed her own knees.
"There were a lot of monsters attacking us," I explained. "Our healers had run out of MP and the monsters kept coming."
"There was no way to escape," Rory added. "If we had continued fighting, we would've been overrun."
"She blocked the corridor the insects were coming from," I continued. "She kept the monsters at bay, long enough for us to escape."
"She died like a hero," Leo said.
"She died like a fucking mongrel in the muddy streets on a cold winter's day." The woman tried to shout but all that came out was a steady hiss of air mixed with her words. "She died to save me. And now I have to live knowing that."
"Viki said something before..." I tried to think of the right word to use. "Before she was overrun."
The woman snapped her head toward me, her brown eyes piercing me with anger and sadness. I moved a step closer to her.
"She said she was sorry that she couldn't take you to that lake," I said, and I pursed my lips, trying to express my sympathy. "She gave me this ring for you."
Item: Anthur Signet Ring
Type: Magic Item - Relic
Durability : 50/50
Grade: E Grade
Weight: 4st.
Description: This ring has been carried down a long line of shapeshifters. While it can be worn by anyone as a piece of fashionable jewelry, its magical use will only be active when one with shapeshifter blood wears it. In the right hands, it can generate and hold up to one healing spell per day, and acts as a signifier to other shapeshifters that the wearer is their kin.
The rage immediately melted off of the woman's face and was replaced by despair as she took the heavy gold ring in her hands. Tears ran freely down her face as she continued to stare at the ring before she fell off the chair and he down on her knees.
She pounded the floor, again and again, her tears flowing freely and mixing with the blood from her knuckles as they pounded the ground. Oh, how much I understand you, Yelena.
"Why her? By all of the bastard gods, why her?" she said, punctuating each couple of words with a punch to the cold floor, which was already wet with blood. "Why? Why?"
There was a profound and savage sadness around the woman. Her form shifted continuously, her hair changing color and length, her skin adopting the full spectrum of hues, and her voice shifting from extremely high to very low and everything in between. We all felt her pain, but none of us dared get any closer to console her.
None of us except for Louie, who--tail between his legs and whimpering--moved toward her. Instinctively, I
