Deeds Made Right/Wrong/Whole

"Deeds Made Right/Wrong/Whole" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
Stonegit Elmiss: Stonegit had waited until Nala’s business guarding the party had well and died down. The previous evening, after his conversation with Liam, he had simply asked to see her when it was all done, and then uncharacteristically separated himself from her. 
Now as the dawn of a new day crept over the distant hills, Stonegit stepped up to meet his friend on a snow crusted hill. He looked…vulnerable, uncertain, and yet there was a glint of excitement in his eyes. 
“Hey Woodchuck…” He said with a slow exhale, his breath forming in front of him in a cloud as his hands wrung themselves nervously. 
The Warden: The wind picked up from over the ocean, but despite the sharp bite of oncoming winter, the area around the Warden was still and warm as heat radiated from her body and her astral presence hovered around the area. Another wave of heat gently pulsed out and melted the snow that remained on the hilltop as the Warden turned to face Stonegit, greeting him with her mind and dropping to one knee. Hello, dark-eyes. You’re being quite secretive as of late, aren’t you? she said in amusement, but also some concern. She extended one of her hands to him, which was almost as long as his torso. I assume you did not bring me here to watch the sun rise, as gorgeous as it may be. 
Stonegit: Stonegit smiled nervously. “Well…no it isnt.” He drew a breath, and she once again saw that nineteen year old kid in him. “Okay so…I have quite a lot for this one so humor me.”
He held up a finger. “Answer me this….when I was sent to literal hel, and confronted with a soul snatching deity…what did I do?”
The Warden: Hmm… Nala pretended to muse over the question. If memory serves, you said something quite crass and left Helheim to return to Midgard. Her words sharpened teasingly. And dragged me back with you.
Stonegit: Stonegit’s smile widened. “And what…did I do…..when I faced a Valykire I had no hope of defeating?”
The Warden: Is this a test of my memory? she teased. We simply killed her together.
Stonegit: “Found a way to cleverly pull it off by the skin of our teeth, but yes.” Stonegit said, and then his pressed his lips together. “And Nala…” He said, and it was then that the Warden noticed it had been the first time he had referred to her as such in quite a while.
Stonegit’s hand slipped into his coat, the smile no longer on his face, and slowly produced a sealed envelope. “And when I fucked up…and gave an insanely powerful demon your first name…” He held the letter out, his fingers shaking a little. “What did I do…to make it right?” 
The Warden: The organic parts of her eyes shifted downwards, and she carefully took the letter from his hand, turning it over with a gentle clink of porcelain joints. Before opening it, she looked back up at Stonegit, her aura growing more confused. What did you do? she asked softly.
Stonegit: Stonegit’s eyes crinkled a little at the edges as his lips tightened. “I couldn’t do it Woodchuck. I couldn’t live with putting you in danger the way I did. Over something so stupid, and selfish. Intentional or not I owed you far more than just ‘sorry’…” He swallowed once. “So I did what I’ve always done. Got clever, got lucky. Whatever combination it happened to be. I had to give you something that would ensure your safety.”
He pointed at the letter. “I got you his name.”
The Warden: It took a moment for the Warden to process his words, but as soon as she did, she immediately threw a hand above their heads in an arc and a cascade of scarlet energy fell around them in a bubble, muffling the outside world beyond the space with just the two of them. She then stayed frozen for another few seconds before moving forward and enveloping him in both a physical and an astral embrace, and when she pulled back, Stonegit saw that her form had shifted to the tusked body he was most familiar with, and outside the bubble, Haligan island was barely visible, but it was strangely overlayed with another view that was just as familiar–a haphazard collection of dark camps and empty timber houses with several towering spires of Bewilderbeast ice stretching overhead against the dawn sky. The Warden closed her solid black eyes and took in the solace of the familiar scene she had created before looking at Stonegit again.
You can’t be serious. This is a terrible prank for you to play on me…
But she was already inside his mind to protect it, and could feel how weighty it was. You’re serious…
The Warden was flabbergasted. An archdemon’s name was one of the most sought-after items in the entire world, among those who understood the consequences of being able to have it. She may as well have been holding several tons of Zippleback gas and oil in her hands; in fact, she was shocked that they were not being besieged by devils trying to steal the name from his mind.
Stonegit… she struggled to say. How?
Stonegit: Stonegit stared wistfully up at the form he first, truly, remembered her as, and shook his head a little. “As it turned out…I ran into two time jumpers. Milae and Juro. And as it further turned out…I had exactly what they wanted to trade for this. His name, found in a time just like this one.” He nodded very carefully. “Cross my heart Nala…its true, and it’s yours. If he tries anything, he won’t know what hit him.”
The Warden: She closed his hands inside of hers and touched her nose to his forehead, her tusks framing his face without harming him. You, she said, are the most deranged, reckless mortal I have ever met… Nala tilted his chin up and looked him in the eye. Thank you. This is more than I could have expected from anyone that loves me. But do let me erase it from your mind after I’ve learned it; that cannot be something that simply rattles around inside your consciousness each day. She knocked a knuckle on the front of his head playfully.
Stonegit: Stonegit grinned. “Don’t worry. I don’t know what his name is. I figure you can read it can keep it too yourself. But I would prefer to remember that I gave you it and why. If for nothing else other than spite.” He leaned into her. “I just…had to do something that would really, actually, help fix this.”
Stonegit sighed, and then closed his eyes. “And on that note…and the note of erasing…I also offer my memory of your name.”
The Warden: My n…dark-eyes, absolutely not. She didn’t know how to explain in words how sacrilegious it would feel. It was my choice to give it to you. There would be little damage mitigated in removing it.
Stonegit: Stonegit stepped back to get a full look at her. “There would have been less damage if I hadn’t known in the first place. I nearly got you killed, or worse by a slip of the tongue. For something so severe, even that letter isn’t enough. You trusted me, and I broke that. As a matter of honor, I have to at least offer back what I failed to keep safe.”
The Warden: And I would be breaking my own trust in you once more if I were to take it, she said firmly. So, absolutely not. Besides… She looked down at the letter with a new gleam in her eye, a new hunger. With this…this is unlimited protection, Stonegit. This is impossibly powerful, now that it is in our hands. We will be just fine, I think.
Stonegit: At her words Stonegit stepped closer to her again, and hugged her. She could sense his relief. “I learned my lesson…thank you Nala…” He breathed a sigh that seemed to take a weight off his shoulders. “Anyways. You better read that, and if he finds out, if we ever see him again…” He glanced to the side, and then back at her. His lips were tight again, but this time in humor. “Can I flip him off? Just once?”
The Warden: After I gain control of him, she said strictly, hovering the letter above her hands and using her energy to open it instead of her oversized fingers. Not a moment before. She took in the contents of Milae’s letter, as well as dipping into Stonegit’s mind for the context of their conversation, and her spirits dipped only slightly on learning the strict rules surrounding the use of her uncle’s name.
Of course that bastard would have safeguards on things like this, she complained aloud. Well…any plan we may have to secure ourselves from him may have to wait. We must think carefully about what we need to do with him.
Stonegit: “Yeah…” Stonegit crossed his arms thoughtfully. “Then again, if you read his name, he’ll know, and bounce out of this time forever. That seems like a win to me.”
The Warden: Yes, of course, she agreed distantly, still staring down at the letter.
And yet…the temptation was rich and full and inviting.
We will…we will have to see.
Stonegit: Concern came to Stonegit’s gaze, and the slowly reached a hand out to touch her arm. “Nala…” He said cautiously. “You don’t need to control him…do anything with him…you can just let it be gone.”
You would give me a once-in-an-eternity opportunity and tell me not to use it, she laughed, but she folded the letter back up and slipped it by her side, and it disappeared into the same miniature slips in space that she used for sheathing her swords. I will be reading it one way or another, and soon. This is not something that we should just hold onto while it is still live. 
Stonegit: “I would only ask that if it meant you stayed safe, or safer at least.” Stonegit said, and the concern faded from his eyes a little at the sight of the letter being safely tucked away. “Just be careful…I know you’ve got the drop on him now. But this was such close call…” 
He hummed once and rubbed the back of his head. “Well I just worry for you. But I see you have this.”
The Warden: Nala leaned forward and grasped Stonegit’s hand again, and the old scarring of their contract brand glowed with a scarlet pulse. She grinned, showing the tips of her fangs beneath her hidden eyes. The landscape around them temporarily flooded with scarlet light, making the massive icicles of Perch Hall glitter and ripple, and then her haven of illusion faded from view, and it was only the two of them left on the chilly hilltop.
He will not know what hit him.
Stonegit: Stonegit squeezed her hand back, his eyes enthralled. “Good…I’ll want to see it.”
He paused, and then inhaled. “Oh, and that was the other thing. I was able to tell Milae already, but I’m pretty sure I figured out how to beat Rhenco, should he come back.”
The Warden: Mmm, I saw mention of that. You and I can work on some sigils we are familiar with, and we can practice next time he strikes. She grew a little more puzzled. It has been long enough; I fear everyone will grow complacent through his absence.
Stonegit/Rhenco: “Yeah…just like last time.” Stonegit said. There was a moment of quiet, and then he glanced down at there still clasped hands. “Hm…that’s a little tight Woodchuck.”
And then the voice spoke in Nala’s head as she felt her hand freeze in place. 
Hello demon…
The Warden: The Warden’s eyes widened as she fought astral tooth and nail against whatever was restraining her in place. The warm energy surrounding her and Stonegit turned into uncontrollable pulses of erratic heat laced with sparks, and the grass around them started singeing and softly smoking.
D-dark-eyes–I–I can’t–
Stonegit/Rhenco: Stonegit frowned and glanced around. “Nala…wh-?”
The Warden felt her lips pull shut, and it was almost as if a switch was flipped inside of her, and shut down her pulsing magic. 
Sorry… She heard her voice say as she let go of Stonegit’s hand. That letter…there’s probably even more to it than just it’s words…you should get somewhere safe…
Stonegit looked a little uncertain, but glanced towards the wilderwest kingdom never the less. “Sure…You sure you’re okay?”
Yes…I’ll find you later…
The Warden felt a piercing sense, like claws, sink into her mind and being. Let’s have some privacy… Rhenco’s voice said as she watched, feeling detached, as Stonegit gave a uncertain wave, and made his way back into the town.
The Warden: Inside the Warden’s seized-up mind, a hurricane of intense strength was building, whirling, thrashing, and her simple scarlet astral form beat furiously against the borders of her own consciousness. The slow shadows of utter horror were beginning to cross her awareness and she did everything possible to shred the control that bound her physical body in place, staring blankly after Stonegit.
She screamed, but he could not hear. 
A vile wave of disgust rose up inside of her, along with a horrifying sense of deja vu. A vicious, biting, strenuous tug of war, almost three centuries ago.
Welcome back, Your Majesty. Now, hand over the reins, if you please.
“No. No. You won’t for an instant gain control of me, monster.”
Oh, my. You want to play, do you?
Let’s play.
…was this what it felt like?
Rhenco: That’s the thought isn’t it? Does a demon know what it’s like to be possessed?….I think you will.
The vice like snap on her mind clenched down tighter, and she could feel his presence, his being spreading through her like a burning poison. 
Mist… He said, and the images of her curing of temple gate flashed behind her eyes That was good. Except you missed something…Nala…red card is a versatile creation. It may not change you the way it changes a human…but it can still…
The particles of Rhenco’s rapidly degenerated body.
get…
The particles binding to the molecules of the red card…the red card that was all around her.
inside…
His voice, low, calm, dead, continued to speak to her as her hands were slowly forced down to her sides. How do you start this process? Oh wait…I remember…
The claws. No. The nails sunk into her mind and peeled back the layers to expose thoughts, feelings, memories, and essence.
The Warden: The Warden wished she could set herself on fire, she wished she could char and purge every cluster of her existence just to wipe him off the face of Aidorin, but the utter helplessness of being forced to sit there and experience whatever he willed made her want to regurgitate like a sick animal. GET OUT!! she shrieked, searing holes and gaps in her own essence to burn away anything he would be able to use against her. The mental torment and struggle was immediate and immense. She had no idea where he had wrested this kind of power; for a moment, she panicked about the letter she had in her possession, and if he had somehow used his strange magic to use it already and twist her to his will. But this wasn’t demonic possession. This stung and spiked and burned like nothing she had ever experienced.
LEAVE ME!!
Rhenco: There was the hiss of a sigh though a sharp nose.
No…
What felt like a finger lifted up to cut across her mind. Let’s roll back the pages of the book…
Memories suddenly flooded past both Nala and Rhenco’s gaze in rapid succession. His fingers dug around as if wrapping the strings of her mind around so he could puppet her thoughts and sensations.
He ground down further to gearlock her ability to retaliate or even harm herself. The stillness was unbearable. I want to see how you did it…
Memories of Haddock’s broken form appeared in front of them.
Ah…let’s start here. Let’s have you feel…what he felt…“
The hands on her mind seemingly wrenched her in two different directions, and Haddock’s physical, mental, and emotional pain hit her like an ice wave.
The Warden: Tidal waves of wretched helplessness and mental horrors invaded her every sense and it took everything within her not to break down and fold before him. She curled into a fetal position and hugged her arms over her face, attempting to block everything out. He couldn’t hurt her if she didn’t let him. She knew that much. Hel had clued her in on that. But it was so…so difficult. Her own strengths were being used against her.
I will destroy both of us, she seethed, unable to do anything else but speak. There is…no purpose to this…you will be stopped.
Rhenco: The fingers stroked over her mind as the distorted images the Warden had once showed Haddock snapped across her vision like flailing wire. Only they were not of Mera and his children, or his father. It was of Liam, Kendra, Tree, Greg, Stonegit, the rebellion.
No I won’t… Rhenco said calmly. And you won’t hurt me through yourself destruct. I fixed that risk since the day we first met…Now Nala… She felt taloned hands grip her shoulders from behind. The sensation bizarre given the lack of psychical forms. I can tell you my reason…give yourself to me…Holding this form of yours still is not really possession. Being able to move, and act for you is…Let me have control…and I’ll make my stay in your being short.
The Warden: I would sooner…rot here…as a statue, she managed to transmit, her thoughts labored and stuttering as she was cut through with his attacks. She was the only barrier left between Rhenco and the Rebellion. She had to be.
A leaf on the wind trusts its course…
A long-forgotten mantra. A temporary source of annoyance.
Though it sinks it still feels that it soars…
She curled in tighter, gripping her head harder, her own mental barriers cracking. 
And the gusts of the gale shall ne’er underpin the bright hope that its sentiment stores.
As long as she could hold out…
Rhenco: You’ll change your mind…looks like he sang that same tune before he broke. I find that a good sign…
Nala’s visions suddenly swam as the imagery in front of her spun out of control again. It was like she was being ripped through time and space. She felt her arm extending outwards, long claws slowly protruding from her finger tips. Was this all in her mind or was he actually moving her? It was starting to become unclear.
She felt herself get launched across the continent, snow, tree’s and mountains zipping by her. And suddenly her hand was plunged into Vox’s chest, just as he appeared in front of her.
His gaze was shocked as blood burst from between his lips, and Nala felt the ripping tear that went through Tree’s heart so many years ago, just as wretched as the physical tear in Vox’s heart. 
Long fingers gently draped over Nala’s shoulder as he arm tilted up to slowly lift the dying image of Vox off the ground. The side of Rhenco’s head leaned over so it was next to hers. These are still all your memories Nala…but I can show you mine as well…it’s not worth it. Let me move you…and I promise I won’t kill anyone. They’ll all live…and I’ll leave you all forever…
The Warden: For branches…may break…on the oak…
I…
Which firm…standing snaps…under…force…
There was a resounding crack and her ashen astral form abruptly bent over, her fists clenched against the ground. They were blackened with red veins resembling glowing ore, and the oxidation slowly traveled further up her arms, dimming her light. Her normally gravity-free essence replacing her hair was thick and almost motionless, dripping against the ground.
But the willow which bends…survives through the wind…
You can’t do this, she softly cried.
And returns to its strength…and returns to its strength…and returns to its strength after storms. 
Rhenco: His hand grabbed the back of her head. That wasn’t the right thing to say…
Rhenco then threw her as if she were weightless, and she suddenly felt her self sprawling into a darkroom, her now oddly human form rolling across the hard wood floor. When she looked up, saw Rhenco standing on the other side of the room, three shadowy figures behind him. Her hands were pale, one of them scarred with multiple cuts and old burns, and the fear….
The sickening fear and panic that was racing through her was suffocating. Rhenco’s dead eyes glinted in the low light of the room. If you ever wondered what he was feeling while you weren’t there…now’s your chance to know…
“Stop iiiiit!” 
Nala’s own desperate, pathetic cry filled Stonegit’s mouth, and she folded, letting her face hit the cold ground, and her smoldering amber tears kissed the floor and made it steam and burn. Her shoulders heaved in sync with his.
Please, she begged silently. Please, just…tell me you will not hurt them…any of them…
The willow bends.
Rhenco: Rhenco strode over and knelt down in front of her. He lifted her chin up to look him in the eyes. I won’t kill them… He said again. And that’s the best you’ll get…
He glanced behind at the other figures, and images flashed in Nala’s mind as looked at each one. A large man vanishing under the underside of a ship dropped straight out of the sky. A teenage stag half breed that was cut down by the first line of rebel fighters during the initial charge of battle. A completely normal looking man, now much older, tilling a small garden outside of a cottage. The image was peaceful, save for how he constantly seemed to be looking over his shoulder in apprehension.
Just agree…and I can fade away as a memory. I am always as temporary as people chose…they just don’t Nala. Two weeks…I have you for two weeks, I don’t kill anyway. I’ll even spare little Sven despite my promise.  
-break-…..
-you can’t win this…-
-you know better than anyone the futility of this…-
The Warden: There was a rumble deep within her heart, her very soul, and her essence momentarily shifted to a spectrum of blues, teals and silvers, and her tears bled white.  
…your pride, your adamant pride, little sister…some enemies you cannot burn…
It was gone as quickly as it came, fading back into dull red. But her form carried a new stillness after it departed, and she shut her eyes, her last act of rebellion being to pull her chin away from his hand and lower her head further, and to speak in a language he couldn’t understand.
H’wq al’th oep gmnh’w ka-saak, lr’pt geil a rh’nuw, c’zseilh.
She lifted her chin, her eyes still closed.
Make it quick, she barely whispered.
Nalaagura Ep’ha, the Warden, folded.
Rhenco: Nala was suddenly standing present back in the same spot she and Stonegit had met, but it was as if she were watching it from afar, from within her own  mind, as if her eyes were a set of windows she were gazing out of. She was in her second form, and Rhenco stood off to her side. He slowly lifted his hands to his face, and she saw her porcelain arms move as he did so. 
His eyes flickered and she saw him start to shake. Began to breath harder…and harder, and until his whole body vibrated. His eyes widened as his pupils constricted to pinpoints, and his neck craned back. “N-N-Nala…” He managed to gasp, and the whole area became heavy, choking, like a cloud of poisonous, near liquid gas in the air.  
He bared his teeth and looked over at her, and suddenly every mask was gone, every careful thing he had made about himself abandoned. His lips were stretched back, and his eyes held a disjointed and malevolent insanity the Warden had scarcely seen in a semi mortal man. It was a face drenched in the blood and spoiled innocence of hundreds. It was filth. It was years of darkness, days of torture, an endless cycle of self inflicted horror all encapsulated into one, godless expression.   
“I know what I want to do now!” He said, his usual calm, low voice now teeming with exposed instability. “Kings! Lords! I looked to them for so long…but this! This! Doing this to demons! I can do it to you! And then I can do it to every demon in Aidorian!” 
His body lurched with the words, the very effects of his mind practically distorting his apparent physical body. His hands came up to slap on either side of his head, his nails digging deeply into his scalp. “Why control anything I do when you have this kind of power!? And those you love…there are so many…so many different people, different ways. Why did I look to Sven when I should have known since that first arrow, that first night in the woods! Liam! LIAM! LIIAAIAIIAIIIIIIAAAAM!”   
The Warden: There was only a deep, resonant hum within what was left of the Warden’s mind, and two quiet words.
Fuck you.
Rhenco: Her giant, porcelain arms swung around and gripped into the dirt. And then he launched himself across the field, the feet now under his control tearing across the land at blinding speed. 
“Oh, don’t feel too badly. You tried your best! But, you are nothing without your control!”
Ecstasy flooded into his veins and he bore down towards the village like a raging animal. 
“I’ll carve out his arms down to the elbow! I make Sven wonder why it’s you stealing him away! The bodyguard will wonder why you’re hurting him, wondering how, out of every awful thing this could happen!” His head tilted back, his next words more like a scream of sheer blood lust than they were words. “I will destroy EVERYTHING you love!”  
The Warden: the willow survives the willow survives the willow survives the willow survives
Rhenco/Stonegit: The porcelain form of the Warden’s claws sunk into the door of the Arnasons, the hands pulling it apart in what seemed like slow motion. The occupants of the house began to turn as Rhenco reached towards them, his eyes wild.
“Hey Woodchuck?”
Everything was suddenly quiet, and Nala was once again standing back in the spot from before, Stonegit’s quietly holding her hand. He starred up at her. “Sorry…” He said. “I know you said I should go but…I felt like I needed to come back…”
Inside the Warden’s mind, she saw Rhenco standing stock still and he looked in some surprise at Stonegit’s sudden reappearance. They had never moved. This whole time, even after she had surrendered to him, Rhenco hadn’t actually been able to move her body. 
Stonegit was still talking. “I know things may not be safe, and I know I overthink shit constantly…but it’s only because I…well…that I want to be sure of things is all…”
They lapsed into silence, and it was then that Nala saw the demon ward around Rhenco’s form, clear as day, no longer hidden. The man didn’t say anything, his eyes still flickering to process what was going on.
Stonegit drew a careful breath, uncertain by her silence. “Look, Rhenco’s whole deal is the hair splitting laws of alchemy right? So maybe his demon ward protects him from just that. A demon, maybe more than one could screw it up. Or maybe the ward protects him, but can’t protect itself. That and I feel as though he’s like a constantly wounded animal, that always tries to make himself bigger and scarier than he actually is. The kind you can’t let get in your head. You know…just…shit like that I guess…” Another awkward pause came between them, as Rhenco had sealed Nala’s mouth, but also forgot to use it. Stonegit cleared his throat. “Okay um…right…you meant it when you said later I guess so…yeah…okay, bye for real this time.” He cringed at the perceived silent treatment. “Sorry…”
He turned, and once again walked away. Back inside her mind, Nala watched Rhenco slowly turn to look at her. “He is clueless. His knowledge is nothing more than wishful thinking.”
His words were even. But his eyes held no glint, and his face bore a barely perceptible irritation, and shaken confidence.  
The Warden: Nala slowly tilted her head up. Her body was almost as black as the void, save for a handful of sparks at her core, and the two dying embers of her eyes. A small lick of violet flame fluttered upwards from her chest.
You are no demon, she whispered. This power is not yours to have…
Rhenco: Rhenco’s eyes narrowed, the expression very much not like him, and he strode towards her. As he walked his body morphed and stretched until he was a freakishly large and leering version of himself. With a hand the size of Nala’s body he pulled her up and slammed her into a wall that materialized behind her.
“I am me. And I can possess the likes of you.” The fingers of his other hand wrapped around one of her horns, pulling on it with such pressure it threatened to yank free from her head. “Not mine hm? Then what is this? Does this feel like I don’t have power!”
The Changeling: Suddenly a different mental force collided with whatever was holding onto Nala, howling like a creature from the depths of Hel. “G̸̩̯̟̘͈̥̀͛È̵̛̛̟̪̙̮̍̌̄T̸̢̬͉̣͋̔͂̆́ ̷̧̭̣̯̀̕͝͝T̸̢̗̯̮͎̽̿̅̍̕H̷̡͔̏̅̈Ë̷̢̲͚́̂̌̉͘͘ ̵̱̔̄́͋F̶͖̪͑̽̃͠Ű̷̼̣́̓C̶̜̑̾̾̆̚͠Ķ̷͕̮͙̲̟̉̌͠͝ ̸̯̞̟̍̐͒O̵͎̰̼͋͠ͅF̶͓̰͚͌̊͆͊͝͠F̵̬̝͌̇ͅ ̷̮̃̆̑M̶̲̬̟̋͂͒̿͘Y̷̖͉̆̊͆̄̌̐ ̴͍͊̀̌̒́̀Ć̸̢͈̤̊̚̚Ơ̷̡̹̦̖̻̏̉̍̕̚U̸̩̽́̓̔̆̀S̷̪̞̳̗͇̮̎Ĩ̵͚̜̼̣̼̟̿͑̀N̶̢̺̱͙̖̐̚ ̴̧̞̜̙̄Ý̴̞̙̯͈̥͈̑̈́̔Ỏ̵͖̲̄̈́͂Ừ̴͙͚̯̥͇͐͒ ̶͚̗̲̥̄̐̽̓͗̊U̷̪̾̕N̵̮͌͊̕D̴͓̠̹͔̈Ě̸̘̿̈A̸̪͙͍̜̾͆̎̊͛̕D̵͈̳͝ ̷̠̼̇͗̅̈̓͐S̵̛̘͚͕̻̜̫͊͗͒O̴̼̱̥̤̙̮̊͑͗̔̀͝Ṇ̴̕ ̸̯́̓͗̀́͋Ǫ̸̬͔̎̽̊̾͑̚F̸̨̹̄͌̾ ̵̡͕̦͕̲̈͑͑̓̓́A̶̰̐ ̴̬͚̫͉̠̄͆̓͗́͝B̴̡̜̬̩̠̰͂̃͛͗Ĭ̴̤̤̬̅̃͂͋͛T̶̨̠̼͆͌C̵̢̙̲͇̘̱͛̊Ḧ̷̡̫̺͙͒͛̃̔̓ͅ!̷̠̗̙̘̬̭̽͛̈́̋̐̕” The creature screamed out, it form shifting from one terrifying creature to next as it spread itself out over the demon, trying to protect her.
Rhenco: Rhenco’s head darted around momentarily at the practical tapestry of fighting images. His fingers gripped ever tighter around Nala’s neck and horn, and his feet grounded down to root themselves. “You can’t stop this….” he said. “My very molecules are bound to hers. My essence and will dominates her mind.”
He hissed once as another bashing assault against his control from the demon hit his ward. “Think you can protect her…? Let me show you otherwise.”
And then Rhenco placed his first hand over Nala’s face, and ripped the horn straight from her head.
The Warden: A flood of molten essence dripped from her wound, hot and smoldering, reminding her of the vicious battle she had fought against Dust. Her shriek was raw and piercing, but despite her sudden rush of fear and pain, she could do no more than scrabble her claws at him. Changeling! Nala screamed. Get back to the village! Warn Grey! Protect Liam! Please!!
The Changeling: They growled, ignoring the Warden. “̸̫̱͛̌Ì̷̞͙'̴̬͔̆l̶̞̎̑l̵̻̙͊̉ ̴̨̀͆p̴̱̄̅ṟ̸̈́ŏ̶̤ț̴͙̾͌e̷̮̼̋c̴̨̈ť̴̞ ̶͔̃̕h̴͕̝̅̂e̷̱̓r̷̫̋,̵̢͆ ̸̡̩̔Î̸̠̖'̸͇́̕l̴̙̆l̵͎͇̑̽ ̷̬̔͠p̷̲̀r̴̮͑ö̵̮̞́ț̴͉̌̚e̶͖̒c̴͖̫̊ṭ̴͠ ̷͕̆a̶̼̔͜l̷̖͇̇l̴̺̈́ ̷̻̈́ö̵̼͕́͊f̶̨̓͋ͅ ̷̗̆͘ṯ̷͗͒h̴͉̀ḙ̸̏̚ͅm̴͔̾͜!̵͙͊ ̷̣͂E̵̯̞̅̉v̴͙̕͘ē̴̙̒n̵̼͗̈ ̴̰́̂í̷̫͚f̷̟͝ ̶̬͘I̵̺͌͠ ̶͓̥̔h̶̩̃a̴͎̹̋v̷̹̈́͝è̵̤͓̈ ̵̟̏͝ţ̷͠ó̶̧̧ ̸͎̌̀t̶̙̞̀e̸̜̦͊͝ä̷̮͔͂ŕ̸̼̈ ̴̼̒y̴̧͝ö̸̩̣ṵ̶̦͛̆ ̷̙͓́a̵͕̚p̷̬͎̽͛a̵͉̽r̴͙̚t̶͇͛͒,̸̣̾̋ ̴͕̪̓á̷͎̿t̵̡͔͘ö̷̱́m̴̭̪̃͊ ̵̛̖͔̅b̵͖͌ẏ̷̱̺͆ ̷̢͉̆̐ả̵̩̖̇t̷̝̰̄͠ó̷̭̇m̴̺̠̅!̸̦̔̚"̸̧̹͌ They screamed as they sunk their claws into his head and raked them down it’s length.
Rhenco: The vibrant, gold colored ward surrounding Rhenco sparked and snapped as the claws dug into it, but prevented him any damage. “Tearing me out will be like taking salt from a shore of sand.” He said as he dropped Nala, and turned coldly towards the Changling. “Assuming you could even harm me in the first place.” 
He flexed his hands, Nala’s fingers moving imperceptibly in the real world. “I’ll get a handle on this.” One of her feet came up and took a careful step away from the town. As he made her body move, slowly, stiffly, he knelt next to Nala and took the back of her head in his hand. “Get…rid of them…” He said.
The Warden: Nala gasped as her physical joints ground together in some mocking form of movement, and as her consciousness was forcefully slammed up against the Changeling’s, she gripped them tightly and tried to hold onto them as long as she could. Pressure from Rhenco was building up behind her.
You have to go, she panted. Tell someone. Anyone. I can…keep him here, but we are…useless against him…as demons. She cried out as her mental wards buffered the Changeling further, almost losing them. You have to keep…me away from the rebels…you are my last…chance. Please. Send help.
Her grip was lost and her fangs bared wide in a soundless scream as the Changeling was shunted out of her mental bounds, and the iron walls of her mind slammed shut. Her cousin was left outside, but the Warden and Rhenco were surely trapped inside.
She twisted her neck to narrow her pulsing eyes at Rhenco, the last sparks of her defiance still spitting and flickering brightly. Bastard.
The Changeling: They growled and in an instant they were in Grey’s mind. “Hey, sorry to intrude, I know you’re in a bit of a shit show right now. But we gotta go, The Warden is dealing with Rhenco right now, alone.”
Rhenco: Back within her mind:
Rhenco pulled Nala up by her hair carefully. “Don’t look at me like that…you’re weak.” He then hoisted her up and pressed her back down into the floor, his legs on either side of her as he stared into her eyes. A memory flickered in her mind. The day she confronted Orskaf, she had seen Rhenco within the ranks. As wicked as he had been, the Judge’s eyes had always been wide, watery, and full a fiery life. It was a stark contrast to what bore into her vision now.
“Moving you is so…stiff…I thought if you surrendered to me it would work. Were you holding out on me Nala?” He extended one of his long fingers and threatened her gaping head wound with his fingernail. “Don’t make me show you what I planned to do with this body of yours…if you can’t surrender control, then do…as I…demand…”  
The Warden: You have control, she hissed. If this is the most you can muster…you make a pathetic monster, and a terrible demon. The brief outline of bared, ultraviolet teeth was visible in her dark face. She braced herself against the ground. Now that the Changeling knew of her plight, she had hope. Do your worst. It shouldn’t hurt.
Rhenco: Nala suddenly felt frustration, and a sense of unease. It was like an acidic burn. But there was also pleasure mixed with pain, a feeling of something feeding off her plight, but sickened by her resolve. 
Rhenco’s face remained calm. She became aware of his calm. His plastered. Enforced. Calm. And she felt anger, anger that he could not revel in the freedom he thought he might have had.
“Then that makes two.” He said. “You broke to me within the day…” The finger slid into her head wound like a key into a lock, and Nala’s eyes were filled with consecutive visions of what almost was. 
The Warden: The Warden retched up part of her essence, and it flooded across her mindscape, almost choking her down. The sensations he forced her through were beyond ungodly, a feast of depravity being shoved down her throat. But still she refused to succumb any further.
Coward, she rasped, kicking up at him to displace him. A false attempt at true power, from a leech.
Rhenco: The golden ward shimmered at the contact, and Rhenco’s reaction was immediate. He grabbed her up in both hands, his body still abnormally large, and smashed her against the wall before throwing her across the mentally constructed room. “You consider anything I’ve shown you and Milae to be false? If it were false why are you laying here, weak, surrendered, and barely able to stand?”
His huge hand smacked down onto her, his finger nails sinking into her body. “Why is your whole rebellion on red alert? Or lock down? Because of one man?” He pulled her up, still skewered to his fingers, and then flung her off to the side again. A split second later, he was towering over her, a enthralled scream tearing through his lungs and splitting her ears. “I am everything you or anyone else have no hope of beating! None have caused me to fail!”
The Warden: Both cyan and scarlet sprayed from the Warden as she was tossed about, but she managed to slowly scuffle to her hands and knees, and then to one foot, pressing a fist into the ground. A tree that only chooses to grow taller than the others, she began to speak, as though mechanical, as though a vessel for something else, a tree that seeks to be better than the rest of the forest will fall short in all else. It will not strengthen. It will not bear fruit. It will fall to the first wind that blows from the wrong direction.
She outstretched a hand, which was thin and graceful, with still-powerful talons at her tips. She framed Rhenco between her fingers and considered him, tilting her head like a curious child.
Where is your ward, Rhenco? You must keep it somewhere…
Rhenco: There was a pulse. A pulse of fear that could not hide from an ugly, and irrefutably accurate truth.  
Rhenco stood across from her, returned once more to his regular size. His eyes glanced to his sides as the gears in his mind turned. 
And then there was uncertainty, and uncertainty of how to act, one that didn’t follow his script, something that called for an action, an emotion, even a feeling that was out of practice for the man. 
“I don’t like how you’re framing me…” He said, and for a moment Nala saw something more than just lifelessness in his eyes. “It makes me feel…small…”
There was another pulse. It was the gut wrenching realization of another truth.
Rhenco had fused to her. It was no possession where he could latch onto her feelings like a leech. It was fusion. She could read him, as openly as he could read her.
At the unintended words Rhenco walked towards her, the ward around him shimmering. He was still clam, but now Nala could see he was working hard to keep his act up. “You’ve lost your edge demon…you’ve lost what makes you fierce and able to fight something like this…”
The Warden: You are used to sharp knives being drawn to face you. She shuddered to her full height, staring at Rhenco evenly as he approached. How you fare against stones rubbed smooth and blunt and heavy, is another question…
He stood directly in front of her. She did not flinch. She kept her hand outstretched, and it sparked across the barrier as she dragged her claws from side to side. Then she pressed the pads of her black fingers to the ward, simply feeling it. She met his dead, slightly-flickering eyes.
What does this truly keep you from? she asked softly. Her heart glowed stronger, cycling through an array of oceanic and fiery hues. Any demon? Any part of me? If that were true…how are you here now?
Rhenco: howareyouherenowhowareyouherenowhowareyouherenowHOWAREYOUHERENOW?!
Rhenco’s eyes bulged. 
How am I here now!?
Nala’s hand was like a rough hand gently rubbing over a weeping scab. Layers slowly peeling backs layers slowly, tortuously. The ward did not spark the way it had when claw had been sunk into it, instead, it hummed, vibrated, and seemingly shifted around like a dynamic puzzle box.  
Rhenco took a step back, the back of his hand reaching around to slap her hands away briskly. “Stop.” He said darkly. 
The Warden: She simply waved her own hand out of the way, and when she reached out again, it was with more intent, and with both hands. The soft astral flesh of her being pushed up against the ward again, and the essence of her heart throbbed and slowly started to color her being again. She pushed through the first layer of the ward like a stream thoughtlessly pouring around several smooth boulders. There was no rage, no determination. Some balance had been slowly tipping inside of her, and it clicked into place on its fulcrum within her being. Her peace with being trapped inside her own mind was being fulfilled.
Nala was still. 
Oh, I am not harming you. A vague smile crossed her shimmering, sharp-toothed mouth. Am I?
Rhenco: Rhenco lurched at her, his form growing once again so he leered over her like a massive viper. A hand reached out to grab her by the throat. “Your Liam will never see the outside of a box if you don’t stop! I’ll hang Kendra by hooks through her wrists and let her bleed for weeks before I let her pass away!”
His other hand sunk into her head, gastly images pouring into her mind as his eyes flared. “Forget the control! We are both creatures of our own relams. Stop what you’re doing, and we both can be let be!”
The Warden: Control is all you know. The demon sounded like she was reading out of a book, although her voice was strained due to the new onslaught. And without it, you mean nothing. You are nothing.
The demon ward chimed and shifted, and her hands sunk in further. They were locked together now, ironically both made of the same essence despite their standings with each other.
Rhenco: Rhenco starred down at what she was doing, and then glanced up at her as the ward continued to thrum and shift.
Nala’s mind exploded with movement as Rhenco rapidly, and desparely attempted to separate himself from her. His essence was whirling like a blazing storm as he attempted to get away.
“Let go!” He demanded as he fingers continued to work. “You’ve made your point! I have no more need to stay here!” Panic hitched through the area, and there was another mad scramble. “Demon! Stop! I said I’ll-”
There was a click, and the ward opened. But it wasn’t just that. A tapestry of carefully crafted alchemic recipes and spells surrounded them. Every precisely oriented transmutations set around them like thin class suspended in the air.
At at the heart of it was that formerly locked away part of Rhenco’s mind. That terrible secret that he had been so intent on burrowing away.
Standing frozen in front of her, he looked around at his work, and then the glowing pocket of memories. He met her eyes. “Dont…you…dare…”
The Warden: Nala scooped her hands into his memories, sifting through them with her fingers for his hidden secrets. Show me. And this time, it was not passive or idle.
It was a command.
Rhenco: Rhenco grabbed at her wrist with his hands. "No! You cant see that! No, no, n-!" 
White overtook them, and when it slowly cleared, Nala found herself standing on a grassy hillside. A young man with brown hair and equally brown robes sat on a log, texts and book of sorcery scattered around him.
Beside her, the older, current version of Rhenco stood beside her, his eyes wide. A gentle breeze blew over the area, and he drew a slow breath, and spoke as if he had no choice but to.
"This...is...the truth...its where I locked it all away. Every reason...every feeling..."
The Warden: The Warden took in the view and bent over the younger man, studying his papers. The sudden release of pressure was incredible, to the point of making her lightheaded. And what would this give me besides pity for you? 
Rhenco: “Not pity...” Rhenco said lowly, resignation heavy in his voice. “No...if only that...but no...” 
He stepped over to stand beside the younger version of himself, and looked as though he were almost trying to peer around to get a better look at him. The whole setting felt like a display in someone’s art collection. His expression was still one of disbelief, the words that flowed from his mouth still uncontrolled.
“It was at this very moment that everything changed for me. I hadn’t had a life better or worse than any other man, but here in the midst of my studies I realized how...small...absolutely everything was. Knowing the distance of the stars, the existence of galaxies. It made me realize that I would have no impact on the world, that I would die without having changed anything on a scale larger than the earth I lived on, which was a mere spec in an expansive universe, and that universe a spec to even more, and infinite universes...”
“I began...to show up late to class...to take long journeys without any planning. To express myself with complete honesty. I began to not care how people reacted.” Rhenco looked back at Nala, everything in his eyes screamed that he didn’t want to say any of this. But this was not him, this was a memory. A memory of acknowledged truth. “Think about it. Say I killed a man. He would be dead. His family would be grieved. His town shaken. His country saddened...the world...sympathetic perhaps? At most? The galaxy...uncaring...the super-clusters light years away from any of it, and the universe...left completely un-rippled. Even murder was materialistically insignificant in the face of the universe based on size alone.”
“I began to love my new found freedom. It was liberating. But then...I...I felt the need to test it. Could I actually do something, anything, to cause even a blip to the universe? That’s when I began to hurt things that were alive, and take things from people. My actions were nothing. But their actions could stop me, which is why I made my self transmutation...so that I may keep doing whatever I wanted without fear. I could swim the deepest rivers, and see such amazing things. If I drowned, it didn’t matter. I could read and learn for days, I could die of thirst in a library and just wake up the next day and keep learning.”
“But what caused the greatest stirs wasn’t any good, or beautiful thing...it was what you know of me...the harming...the relishing in it...I just...I just got stuck. It started with striking anyone I disliked, and forcing a person I desired to bed. But then it kept spiraling...and spiraling...I crafted my image, I created my method of how I did things. Any deviation from it made me sick. Anger, becoming manic, embarrassment, confusion. It didn’t matter. If it wasn’t the mask I made I hated myself for feeling it. I became so numb. To the point where I wouldn’t be able to move if I was something other than that presentation.”
“I wanted a blip! I wanted to matter! And if I couldn’t matter I just wanted to live with the complete liberation I had discovered. I tried to give the gods red card, and Hel cursed me for it by showing me a vision of a demon standing over me in blood. Hence the wards...and then I met Milae, and something made me realize that I wanted something else in life but couldn’t have it. I’d say it wasn’t fair, I’d make excuses, but this is the truth...and I know...the actual...truth.”
Rhenco hung his head. “I know what I do is wrong. And I know that I became the way I became for no...good...reason.”
-
The light then returned and engulfed them, and Nala watched as an explosive chain reaction took place in light of her destroying his ward, and ripping into the memory. Her focused energy did burn away at him this time. Fire and molten light ripped across the alchemic circles and Rhenco, in front and holding her arm once more, flinched as her burning essence consumed them both. “Stop!” He yelled, his eyes shut tight at the heat. “Stay yourself demon! Think about what you’re doing! Everything I have you can’t afford to lose! I can make the last leaders of Central surrender within a few weeks! I could make the family that seeks to destroy you beg for mercy! I could save your rebels! Hundreds of your rebels! By being the sole man to one by one kill off a Central army! Ah! AGH! Stop this fire! Stop this destruction! I’ll leave! I’LL LEAVE!”
The Warden: Nala's eyes heated and glowed intensely, and she reached out a hand and grabbed him by the front of his robes, yanking him closer, not allowing him to withdraw. 
But I can do all of that myself, Rhenco. I have never needed you. In fact, it would have been better for this world had you never existed in the first place.
Rhenco: The dismissing truth cut into his soul like a barb, and for the first time in a very, very long time, life and fury filled Rhenco's eyes as he matched Nala's expression. "Maybe! But it still means nothing in scope of literally everything else!" 
His hands and essence reached out in retaliation, and sought to destroy something of hers, anything of hers. They ended up grabbing around a sigil and mark of her own, and a memory flashed once again in Nala's mind. It was the moment Hel ordered her to guard the rebels, it was the sigil she had placed inside of her.
Rhenco shrank back, but simulatiously grasped it with both hands, the edges of it cracking as his own recipes continued to shatter and burn in the Warden's furious presence. "I wont! I'll hurt! You! I'll- I'll cut! Them! Demon! Monster! Nalaaaa!"
The Warden: The Warden grabbed his hands in hers, trapping both of them in a series of vicelike layers–his hold on her promise, her hold on him, his constructs and alchemies searing and burning around them, and the heat only fused them together further. You will do nothing of the sort. I will ensure you die in me. For good. 
“NALA!!”
Everything in her mind froze in place, all at once. Her eyes widened.