A Name For a Friend

"A Name For a Friend" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
A sharp hoof knocked against the front door of the library, and Milae pulled the edge of his hood a little lower, hoping to keep his identity as a half-breed hidden from the bustling crowd behind him. He still felt a little weak in the knees from the experience he had just left, but his heart was thundering with determination, and he prayed that Juro was in the building.
akkeyagentofhelheim
Milae felt a tug at the hem of his clothes, and when he glanced down he saw a very young girl, barely two or three years of age, wearing a simple, linen robe, staring up at him with bright eyes, “入る…できません…神の神社…”
Before Milae could react, his view was blocked by a swirl of high quality robes, layers and embroidery glinting in the sunlight, like the people in the crowds wore but more ornate and detailed. He was smoothly but very quickly pushed into the Library, then he heard Juro’s voice speaking, “あなたは長寿の神に恵まれました. 今家に帰って.”
There was a silence, before Juro came back through the entrance and shut the door firmly behind him. His face had a pleasant smile, but there was an underlying tone of exasperation, “You really do pop up at unexpected times, Milae…”
foresight-botgd
“I try to be convenient.” His tone returned the same amount of pointed impatience, but still with a bit of humor. “You could allow me access directly inside, and then it would be less of a burden for us to meet.” The goat looked past Juro at the door, clearly curious about what had occurred, but he decided to forego the questions for now. 
akkeyagentofhelheim
“You weren’t supposed to be here in the first place,” he wagged a finger at the half breed, grinning at the obvious interest but refusing to explain. He brushed past him as he took off the many layers of robes, letting them fall to the ground haphazardly until he was left in the original outfit that Milae knew, “To what do I owe this visit?” he asked, his tone consistent.
foresight-botgd
“I hope the story of getting this demon’s name interests you, because it grows ever longer.” He propped up his weapon beside the door and lowered his hood, shaking it out and making a face at the clothes strewn across the floor. “I found a cluster of threads that may be what we are looking for. A select few timelines where the Rebellion is in contact with an archdemon that could hold the key.” He twisted his velvet nose wryly as he bent down to scoop up the robes in his short arms and lay them across a nearby cart. “The Warden’s mother.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
He raised his eyebrows at that, fingers clicking away on his boxes as usual, ignoring him cleaning up after him, the silk robes slipping as he gathered them, “Huh. Okay, that makes sense.”
“So I suppose, the timeline with the most information the Bookkeeper can get from her is what we’d need?” he continued, switching to a parchment in his other hand.
foresight-botgd
“If he can get her to trust him, yes.” Milae started absently straightening a stack of journals on the cart, annoyed with the vague mess of the place. “If not, I have a…setup in one of the threads, where the Empress is friendly with the Rebellion, and with me.” He sighed, his eyes a little bit tired, and he leaned against the cart. Does he ever sit in this place? “I gave her enough food to be a subject of interest to her. But I would like to leave that as a last resort. She is still incredibly powerful, and I will likely only have one shot at getting intelligence from her there.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Right. Bookkeeper. Allied to the Empress, or something along those lines. Friendly Rebellion relations…” Juro mumbled distractedly, grin still dancing on his face as he started pulling books out and tossing them to Milae. A small book, a couple of parchments; he made an agile jump and a side step to a higher level, climbing the shelves, and dropped another book right above the half breed.
“Those are written in Aidorinian…” he said as he craned his neck to look behind another shelf, “Might have something.”
foresight-botgd
Milae lowered himself to a cross-legged position with his back against the cart, thumbing through the books and examining their contents. He paused and looked closer at a script that detailed the Empress’ interactions with the Rebellion, but they weren’t as positive as he was hoping. “By the way, did you find anything out on your end? About Frigga?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
Juro stopped and looked up from his work on the black box, “Oh right! Yes, I got some stuff…” His fingers started clicking away again, until he found what he was looking for. He turned it around and crouched down to Milae’s level, showing him what the light displayed.
“So it’s a loop, correct? The Bookkeeper himself is looped as well, so ever since the beginning it’s the same entry.U-020859 The goddess, flanked by two Eirs, met the alpaca half breed and forged a contract.It’s been consistent all this time, but lately some things have changed.” He slid his finger down a part of the box, and the light changed again.U-020859 The goddess, flanked by five Eirs, met the alpaca half breed and forged a contract.
U-020859 The goddess, flanked by eleven Eirs, met the alpaca half breed and forged a contract.Milae saw that at every new loop, the number of Eirs increased.
“I thought that she was collecting Eirs again, so I checked, but there’s no reports of anything of the sort,” Juro continued, his brows raised in thought, “No… I think she’s evolving on her own now. These Eirs… they’re not raw power anymore. They’re a physical manefistation. And there’s…” he pointed towards another entry.
foresight-botgd
Milae stared with wide eyes at the entries, the book slowly lowering in his lap as Juro talked. He thought he might be sick.
“Helvíti mér hlaupandi. So she is…generating them, now? But how?” He read over the entries again, as though they held a secret. “And…that’s not…the day that Frigga found her…unless this is a new contract…”
His stomach seized again and he stared unseeing at the box in Juro’s hands. How little did he actually know his childhood friend? What had she done? 
“We have no reliable way of seeing what is happening, then?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
Juro shook his head in confirmation, “That’s what I thought. I think she’s taking advantage of the loop, rewriting and breaking things in there. Frigga has always been able to create and weave the strings of time, therefore things are capable of getting jumbled and knotted to a certain extent. But there’s no way that timeline could hold that much power anyway, so it’ll disintegrate soon.”
“She’s supposed to be empty and dead in the first place, but hooking her fingers onto the original Duri allowed her to collect and amalgamate souls and powers that weren’t supposed to exist in the same place.” He took the box away from the despaired half breed, regarding him carefully, “Eir has always been a separate entity of Frigga, so it’s no surprise that at a certain point she probably regained that ability and started ‘making’ her again. They will be no different from the Eirs from 25 years ago.” he added. It was unclear if that was in a positive or a negative note.
Juro pulled at his scarf, revealing the turtleneck and parts of old scars beneath, “You will see exactly what the Bookkeeper sees in that timeline. To have a pattern like this should be reassuring. It’s when the entries stop that would be worrying…”
foresight-botgd
“Then I don’t have time.” Milae struggled to his feet, briefly grabbing Juro by the arm to steady himself. “I have to stop Frigga before she gets too powerful.” His eyes were wild, fear-filled, and still exhausted. “I’ve been waiting too long already.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“And how do you plan to do that, hmm?” Juro grabbed his arm, holding it very tightly for a brief moment and giving him an intense look, different from his usual laid back self, but letting go immediately afterwards, “Pop over to that timeline right now by yourself? Fight Frigga and all 120+ of the Eir manifestations?”
“It’s disintegrating already, it won’t be long until she peaks. I told you that the Eirs won’t be any different. The rebels held their own well against all seven of them, they can do it again,” he shut the box with a snap, “She will not likely be as strong as you fear her to be, you know…”
foresight-botgd
“Then I have to do something now,” he insisted, pushing a hoof into Juro’s stomach to move him aside and going for his staff. “The rebels will not be paying for my mistakes.” He felt a tremendous amount of guilt and pressure on his shoulders, and he wearily accepted it as part of him any more. If he had been too weak to save Duri in the past, he was going to do it now, Frigga be damned, seven Eirs or two hundred, he was going to do something. He was sick of letting fate dictate itself.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“And if you die now, they don’t stand a chance.” he slammed a hand on the wall where the staff rested, not allowing himself to be pushed aside. Juro clenched his jaw, giving Milae a hard look that was extremely out of character and jarring, then he shook his head as if he realized what he had just done.
He turned away from him so he couldn’t see his face, forcing his cadence back to normal, “And if you’re gone, then what comes after…”
Milae whirled around as Juro’s hand banged against the wall, making his staff slide down and clatter against the floor. He stood with his back to the door, pressing his palms up against the wood on either side of his legs, and for a moment, he looked up at Juro with moist eyes, chest heaving shallowly as he struggled to breathe through the tense moment. Then he slowly let his hooves slide out from underneath him and he bumped his rear against the ground, his arms falling between his legs, and he dipped his head, the tousled mess between his horns covering his eyes, which had welled up and began to leak over his fur. He grabbed his hood and quickly pulled it over his head, ashamed of Juro seeing him like this.
“Then what do I do?” he whispered hoarsely. “All I know is sacrifice. What happens when I can no longer give of myself?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
Juro exhaled shakily to steady himself, cursing at himself for slipping, Too damn similar. He stayed himself where he stood.
“Just stop it. It’s time to stop doings on your own. Stop moving as if it’s all on your shoulders,” he took his glasses off and folded them on the cart, then ripped the headband off his head placed it over them, staring at them with eyes that held unknown thoughts, “This doesn’t involve only you. Akkey and her family are neck deep in this. She wants to fight. And the others too. Chief Grey knows. The Arbiter knows. The Warden knows. Everything that’s happening. These are all people who’ve already fought Eir and Frigga, and won.”
“You need to fight together.” 
foresight-botgd
“But they can’t,” he said desperately, throwing his scarred arms out in front of himself. “Frigga hides from them in a place only I can reach. There is no other traveler that can help me. The Norns would sooner bicker among themselves and leave me to the wolves. There is no one else out there. There is only me!” His shoulders shook several times in a row, and he covered his snout with a cloven hand, trying to stem the tears. 
akkeyagentofhelheim
“That timeline is broken. It will crumble and disappear. There will come a point where she gets impatient, and she’s forced out of there.” he turned to face him, looking both young and ancient at the same time. Seeing Milae in his dilemma was resurfacing memories and emotions that he had worked hard to lock away, and he was getting frustrated at his own self, “And even if she hides, you know what wants. Pretend to cooperate. Coax her out. Trick her. Lay a trap. All of you can fight.” 
foresight-botgd
Milae caught his breath for a moment, still hiding his face as he tried to recover. He sniffed wetly and let his shoulders slowly relax as he took in Juro’s words. He remembered Akkey’s determination and the Arbiter’s reassurances, and the faces of his two friends from the squadron that he thought were long gone. The entire Rebellion, that he finally walked among as one of their own. He almost couldn’t imagine them stepping up to the plate for him, when for so long it had been the other way around. 
“You think we can do this?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“You better, ‘cus I don’t know anyone else in any of the timelines who know how to deal with her the best than the Rebellion.” he said in a flat tone, before giving him sincere smile, “Everyone will be okay. You just can’t do it alone.”
foresight-botgd
“That is quite flattering. Thank you.” Even in the midst of his breakdown, he managed to insert a bit of dry humor. He leaned back against the door, wiping at his damp fur, and then he hastily got to his feet, bringing his staff along with a casual spin. “I am sorry. I didn’t mean to…make you uncomfortable.” He still kept his hood low, feeling heat beneath his fur as embarrassment crawled through him.
akkeyagentofhelheim
He ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, before waving it off, “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. You don’t have to apologize. I shouldn’t have gotten involved, it’s not–” He pulled on the pleasant face once more, “I’ll keep an eye on all the entries for both the Empress and Frigga. You… do whatever you need to do.”
foresight-botgd
“But I don’t want t…” Milae bit off his words and sighed, a concerned look still knit across his brows. “I still want to help.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
He came up to him with an indistinct smile, looking at him hiding his face for a while, before tapping his head gently with the spine of the book he held, then handed it to him, “That side of the shelf is all written in and about Aidorin and the demons, if you wanted to peruse…” he said with a nod. The look in his eye was pleasant once more, making it clear that he will no longer interfere.
foresight-botgd
He dipped his head in acknowledgment and held the book to his chest, ducking past him. “I will avoid bothering you, then. Thank you.”
Milae took his seat in a corner of the library and spent the next little while going through the records that Juro suggested to him, and he was unusually quiet to the point of being nearly forgotten. One of the few movements he made was to move to be slouched down a little lower, propping the journal he was reading up against his knees, and the next time Juro looked at him, he had dozed off with the same book held loosely in his hooves, his chin resting down on his chest. His navy cloak was spread around him like the deep sea spilling across the floor.
akkeyagentofhelheim
He immediately let the facade go, his face crumpling into a grimace as he watched the half breed sleep. He roughly ran a hand through his hair, and approached Milae quietly and crouched down to his level. His brows were knotted, his dark amber eyes shining a little too brightly as he quelled the turmoil he felt, clenching his fist around the spectacles he was holding.
All I know is sacrifice. There is only me.
He grit his teeth, trying desperately to ignore the memories that resurfaced. “This is all my fault. You need to run, Jin. I won’t have you pay for what I did!”
“Gods damn it all. You and your type.” he mumbled under his breath, scrunching up one of his robes so he could stuff it behind the goat’s head as a makeshift pillow, then turned down the light in that corner of the Library before going off to continue his own work.
foresight-botgd
Far too many hours later, the small goat suddenly gasped and kicked his legs, the book sliding abruptly off his lap. “Duri!”
He blinked and panicked further as he realized he was in a place he didn’t recognize, but once he sat up, he remembered. He also felt something shift behind him, and he turned to see a bunched-up silk robe behind his neck, and he flicked both his ears, considering it and trying to remember what he had been doing before he fell asleep. Reading? The story of the timeline he had been researching and his dreams were blurred into one, and he sat back wearily, tempted to fall asleep again. But he was still a little too tense.
“Juro?” he said quietly. He heard no response. He must have left.
Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Milae got to his feet and organized the stacks of journals back in order before replacing them on the shelf like a fussy librarian. When he was finished, he picked up his staff and the robe, ready to leave. He paused, looking around the library one more time, and then he dug into his belt pouch and pulled out a small strip of linen depicting a fiery sunrise made of thread, and he lay the folded robe on one of the nearest carts and left the tiny piece of artwork on top of it.
Then he was gone.
akkeyagentofhelheim
His lashes fluttered open, revealing the amber colour of his eyes, glinting between deep and bright beneath the muted shadows of the leaves. Crisp, golden-touched clouds rolled overhead, wind softly tickling his cheeks. The hill he sat alone on rose above the town, grass dotted with red spring flowers, the subtle smell of smoke and cooking meat floating above the moss covered grave markers.
Juro inhaled deeply and called out, “Vir…” A pause, then the space right above his head warped, bending into itself, “What did he leave?”
Virion twisted in response, swirling into a whirlpool of colour and light, before depositing the embroidered linen strip onto the Bookkeeper’s lap. He took it carefully between his ink stained fingers, and lifted it higher, the sunrise design stretched against the real Hakata sunset before him. Juro gave a small laugh. He couldn’t help himself, it would be early morning in Aidorin now and the timing was amusing, “Well… it is the same sun.”
He regarded it for a few more seconds, then folded it into his pocket and got to his feet, the hem of his robe rustling against the wild grass as he approached a certain grave. He stood before it, the orange rays of the sun reflecting off the spectacles that slipped down his nose slightly, as he glanced down at the marker. He could barely make out the inscription through the overgrowth, but he didn’t need to see it to know what was written. After all, it was his hand that erected these graves many, many years ago.
A sad smile twitched the corner of his lips, before he turn on his heel and made his way back to where Virion floated invisibly in the air. Back to work we go.
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Events
Category:Act I
Category:Yun Milae
Category:Jin Juro