Reconciliation

"Reconciliation" is a Season Four thread written on June 24, 2019.
This thread is considered a flashback as it was written after the conclusion of its assigned season.
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
Akkey Black: Akkey perched herself on one of the rooftop ledges of the dungeon. She watched as the sun dip slowly below the horizon, casting its golden light across the scenery, long shadows growing. The sounds of the Rebellion floated faintly from the temporary mess hall as dinner was being served.
Greg Ericson: “Hey Chief.” Greg said, suddenly appearing behind her. “Whatcha looking at?” He asked as he tried to aligned his gaze to match hers. “Is it a naked guy? A naked girl?”
Akkey Black: “Greg!” she jumped, nearly falling over the edge in surprise, before huffing in amusement, “No. Just thinking.”
She gave him a sidelong glance, “Uh… welcome back.”
Greg Ericson: He grinned as he plopped down next to her. “Great to be back.” His grin fell a bit. “I’m sorry to hear about Perch Hall… I can’t imagine how awful that must have been.” He sympathized.
Akkey Black: Akkey sighed, a slight phantom pain going down her back. She looked towards the distance again, “Yeah… it was a nightmare.”
“I guess… it was a good thing you missed it.”
Greg Ericson: His smile upturned a little. “Yeah thanks for that. Without that portal to the north I might not have made it.”
Akkey Black: She froze as she realized what she said, “I… I didn’t mean it like that. I just…” She pulled her hair again in habit, “Sorry…”
Greg Ericson: He grinned at her. “Hey don’t worry about it, I needed the cardio.” He said as he kicked his legs. “I’ve been skipping leg day, now people think I’m a horse Half-Breed.” He joked
Akkey Black: She stared at him with tired eyes, not acknowledging the joke, “Is… she here?”
Greg Ericson: He frowned a little bit. “She has a name. And so what if she is?” He asked.
Akkey Black: She pressed her lips, “I just… the main reason I opened that portal was to keep her away. If she’s here again, then…”
Greg Ericson: He sighed frustrated. “So what, you want to exile me for the rest of my days as long as she’s here? She’s not a bad person, she made mistakes in the past but she’s trying to be better. Why can’t you see that?”
Akkey Black: “I have nothing against you,” she pointed, “But i can’t risk the safety of the entire Rebellion based on just your word.” Hypocrite. Agent of Helheim.
Greg Ericson: “Why not?” He asked seriously. “I’m one of the only people who’s gotten to know her for who she is, while all are judging her for what she used to do. If there’s anyone’s word you can trust it’s mine.”
Akkey Black: She opened her mouth in protest, then closed it again. Benefit of the doubt.
“The word of one isn’t doesn’t beat the word of hundreds,” she said, then sighed, “Listen… I just wanted to know if she was here or not.”
Greg Ericson: “Aaaand what are you going to do if she is?” He asked.
Akkey Black: She didn’t answer him, instead she stared at him with sad, torn, and unblinking eyes. He saw her fingers twitching unknowingly.
Greg Ericson: His eyes flicked down to her fingers and then quickly back up to her, his fingers beginning to do the same. “Don’t.” He growled.
Akkey Black: “I won’t.” she said in a low voice, “As long as she’s not here…”
Greg Ericson: “Why. Does it. Matter?” He asked. “She saved our lives, without her we’d still be trapped in that pit and probably have starved to death.
Akkey Black: A harsh wind blew through them. The last light of the sun streaked across their faces, illuminating them in tones of orange and red.
“It matters,” she stood slowly, keeping her eyes trained on him, “Because she was the Warden. She possessed Tree, she killed Vox, she tortured your comrades, she manipulated your King.” She brought an arm up, her voice raising. Screams rang in her ears.
“You can’t change months of pain and hurt so easily just because you’re chummy with her!” She flicked her wrist, and water snaked its way on the ground to his feet.
Greg Ericson: Greg quickly hopped back and created a circle of fire around him, trying to keep the water at bay. "Yes she did all those things, and she's going to have to live with that for the rest of her very long life. But how can she prove that she has changed or even begin to change, when you push her out every time she enters camp?!" He yelled back, his anger burning, causing the flames to rise higher.
Akkey Black: “It’s not something we can risk!” she screamed. Greg saw her eyes turn dark for a moment. She wished she was nearer a bigger water source, but all she had was what was in her pouch. Her stomach churned.
He saw a tendril whipped towards him, and he defended himself. Steam rose around them as elements clashed. A few rebels started looking up in confusion, but couldn’t see them from the ground.
Greg Ericson: Greg stayed on the defensive for now, creating walls of flame to block the incoming water, not wanting to hurt Akkey. “What gives you the right to decide that?!” He cried.
Akkey Black: “Shut! Up!”
Akkey was sobbing now, attacking him but not doing any damage. “Why couldn’t you have just stayed away! I know! I know it wasn’t my call to make! Everything I did was for my own selfish reasons!”
“So why?! Did you have to come back?! Just to remind me of all of that?” Akkey threw her last bit of water towards him, gasping for air.
Greg Ericson: As her last bit of water fizzled out against his flames he dismissed them walking over towards Akkey calmly, and cautiously wrapped his arms around her in a hug. Seeing her in such a state hurt his heart. He didn’t want to fight her, but he also couldn’t let her get rid of Nala. Hopefully they could come to some agreement.
Akkey Black: She flinched, but didn’t push him off. Her shoulders shook as she tried to catch her breath, hands over her face. Tears ran down her face.
“I’m… sorry…”
Greg Ericson: “It’s okay.” He said softly as he patted her back, just working on calming her down for the moment.
Akkey Black: Akkey shook her head, stepping away from him. “Why are you here… Why are you talking to me… I sent you away because I wanted to, don’t you hate me…”
Greg Ericson: He smiled at her. “Of course I don’t hate you. I try not to do the whole hating thing. It takes too much energy, energy I could use to build pillow forts. Besides you helped me with my leg day, didn’t you?” He said with chuckle. “As for why I’m here talking to you, I heard about what happened at the hall and I wanted to check on you to see how you were doing.”
Akkey Black: She couldn’t help laughing a little through her tears. Typical Greg. “I’m fine. I just needed some time to think.”
“I take Warren, Grey, and Asha were ecstatic to see you,” she glanced up at him as the last rays of the sun dipped over the horizon.
Greg Ericson: He smiled a bit. “Yeah, they were relieved that I was okay…” He trailed off a bit. “I told Warren I loved her.” He said looking for something interesting to say.
Akkey Black: Akkey widened her eyes, rubbing her tears away, tension forgotten, “And? What did she say?”
Greg Ericson: He chuckled which grew into full on laughter. “Said thank you.” He said through his laughs. “Gods she is so adorable.”
Akkey Black: Akkey was taken aback for a moment before joining him in hysterics, “Of-of course she said that. That’s so Warren, oh my gods.” She wiped a tear away; she hadn’t laughed like that in a long time.
Greg Ericson: He giggled with her, glad that the tension from the last few minutes seemed to evaporate. “Yeah… It’s part of why I love her.”
Akkey Black: She smiled gently at him, “I think you two are perfect for each other. I can’t wait for you guys to get married.”
Greg Ericson: Greg blushes a deep crimson and laughs as he rubs the back of his neck. “Hey now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” He said, though secretly he didn’t mind the idea.
Akkey Black: She shrugged, still grinning, “Never too early to think about your future.” She ran a hand through her hair, trying to fix it, “If you have kids, you should name one of them Kettil. I like that name.”
Greg Ericson: He looked her dead in the eyes. “I am never naming my child that. Real or hypothetical.” He swore.
Akkey Black: She gasped jokingly, “I take deep offense in that. It’s the best name for any offspring.”
Greg Ericson: He snorts. “Yeah? Then name your own kids that.”
Akkey Black: “Mm-mm,” she shook her head, leaning on the ledge, “No kids for me.”
Greg Ericson: He raised an eyebrow in question. “No?”
Akkey Black: “Nope,” she said shortly. “Not really interested. And–” she lifted a few droplets of water from the ground, twirling it above her finger, “–too risky. What if they get this?”
Greg Ericson: She frowns slightly. "I mean... So what if they got that?" He asked. "I'm not advocating one way or the other but, what's so bad about that?" He asked as he pointed.
Akkey froze, and let the droplets fall, shifting her gaze away from him. Shit, I slipped up. He doesn’t know about the soul collection.
“I… don’t want want them to inherit the gene and the problems that come with it, that’s all.” she said in a flat tone.
Greg Ericson: “That’s what I meant. What problems come with it?” He asked.
Akkey Black: “Exhaustion, loss of control, opening portals to the wrong places–” Getting roped into collecting souls and whatever else Hel has planned. She trailed off, knowing those reasons sounded lame compared to the real one.
hubwalker1
Greg hums. “Well it’s like anything else, you need to learn to control it. Like this.” He said as he held out his hand, producing a ball of flame. “I’ve only had it about a week, but I’m happy to have it.” He closed his hand extinguishing it before looking back at her. “As do you.”
Akkey Black: She wrinkled her nose mutely, before looking away. He wasn’t wrong. She liked what she could do. But sometimes the baggage that came with it made her wonder if it’s worth it.
Akkey shrugged, letting his statement hang in the air.
Greg Ericson: He shrugged. “Like I said I’m not advocating one way or the other, it’s your life you’re free to do with it as you please, but it’s something to think about.”
Akkey Black: She cleared her throat distractedly, “So uh… that fire power. Where’d you get it?”
hubwalker1
He smiled a bit. “Apparently it’s a part of demon possession. From how Nala explained it to me, every time someone is possessed, it… Opens something in them, I guess. They gain the potential to develop elemental magic.
“Granted it’s only the potential. If you don’t nurture it and train with it, it remains dormant until you do.”
Akkey Black: “Hmm,” she mused humourlessly. Nala… “Aren’t you lucky.”
“What…” she hesitated. Benefit of the doubt. “What made you decide to give her a chance.”
Greg Ericson: He hums as he thinks about it for a minute. “I think it’s because, no one else had tried. I mean, I get it, she had antagonized everyone since day one, but I couldn’t think of a time that anyone had actually tried to just… Talk to her. So I gave it a shot.”
Akkey Black: “And what did she say that changed your mind about her? That proved that she’s not a danger to us?”
hubwalker1
Again Greg thought for a minute. “Well… There wasn’t one thing. That’s not how trust works, it isn’t grown overnight. I extended the olive branch she accepted and we made wine with it… No wait that’s grapes, what do you make with olives?” He asked absent-mindedly
Akkey Black: She squinted at him in confusion, ”…olive oil?“
But she shook her head, she understood what he meant. Akkey looked down below towards the rebels milling outside the bunker, “That’s what Grey and Warren said, too. Trust. That’s rare these days.”
Greg Ericson: He snapped his fingers as she said this. “There ya go, we made olive oil.” His smile quickly fell though as he heard Akkey speak. He hung his head and sighed. “It is a sad day indeed when trust is a rare commodity to be hoarded rather than given.”
Akkey Black: “We can’t afford to trust in the wrong people,” she sighed, remembering her own mistakes, the shadow passing over her eyes again, “Not with this war. Not with this Rebellion.”
She glanced at him, “I am glad… that she kept her promise to keep you safe.”
Greg Ericson: “If we cannot trust, even our own allies then we are a sad army indeed.” Greg sighed and shook his head
Akkey Black: She turned away. She’s not an ally. Not to us. But she knew better than to speak it out loud now. “Is she still here?” She repeated her unanswered question from before. No malice or fear in her voice, just genuine curiosity.
Greg Ericson: He frowned slightly and shook his head. "Not as far as I know. She’s not here but that doesn’t mean she isn’t lurking in the dungeon somewhere.”
Akkey Black: "I see…” she trailed off, eyes half closed, “Well… it’s good you’ve returned in one piece.”
Category:Events
Category:BOTGD
Category:Akkey Black
Category:Greg Ericson
Category:Season 5