Chapter Text
Nobody could recall who ran first, but the next thing any of them knew they were bolting down this dimly lit corridor, desperation setting in as they kept running and running, with no end in sight. No anything, actually. Just shelf upon shelf of bodies and the occasional torch.
The scuttling had resumed, but it was anything but comforting this time. Whatever these things were, they knew Marcille and the party were there. They were coming. And the bugs knew this crypt better than them, so who knows when they might just pop out of a wall or funnel out of a shelf-grave thing or—
There. The end of the hallway, finally in sight. Wait, the end?
She only sees the back wall.
Have they reached a dead end?
Oh no.
… no. No, as they continue closing in on this wall, she sees there’s another hallway continuing to the left. They just have to round the corner and it will all-
The whole group screeches to a halt at the turn, but don’t continue. Because there it is. That clears up the question of ‘is it one bug or lots of little ones’.
Waiting patiently like a predator much more clever than you would expect a massive bug to be, is the most sickening shelled millipede-like creature Marcille has ever seen. It just stares, with bone-chillingly aware eyes, front few legs risen up, poised to strike.
This hallway was a lot wider, more like an actual room, but most of the space was taken up by the thing’s many coils of body.
Marcille opens her mouth to scream, yet is cut short by a familiar hand clasping over it and holding it firmly. She instantly recognises it to be Falin’s and doesn’t protest. They all stand in silence for a second, all of them considering the monstrous millipede (or trillipede maybe? If they survive this encounter she’s sure Laios will tell her all about it) may be blind. But its eyes seem too… precise. So why hasn’t it-
Suddenly, Laios is upon the creature, slashing at it just behind the neck. Namari follows, taking Laios’ attack as an invitation to join. He calls out to her in warning while being thrashed around by the alarmed trillipede.
“Don’t get in a position where it can get you with its pincers! You have to hit it underneath the endoskeleton!”
As weird as the depth of his knowledge on monsters was, Marcille was definitely thankful for it. Spotting an opening where it had reared up even further, exposing its vulnerable flesh, she decides to make a move, casting a fireball its way.
She’d feel bad just standing doing nothing like Chilchuck currently was because she didn’t have an excuse. The blast finds purchase and the thing screeches, now distracted from the fighters, attention fully on Marcille.
Shit.
She braces herself for the attack, speaking an incantation and hoping it reaches this plane of existence before the insect reaches her.
The gale manifests, whirling around her in a protective storm. She heaves a sigh of relief as this repels the monster just in time, puzzling it just long enough for Shuro to rush in and deliver the final blow, a final blood-curdling screech emitting from the beast.
He always does that ‘final move’ thing. I’m sure anyone could have finished it off there but no, he has to be the special one.
Whoa, hey, where did that come from?? I don’t hate Shuro. He’s not done anything wrong. I guess his weird little crush on Falin offends me more than it should.
Not two minutes after defeating this monstrosity, Laios is telling everyone all about it. Falin begins to go around checking everyone for injuries, before Chilchuck interjects.
“If we’re all taking a second to brush up on our monster trivia, maybe we should just set up camp here.”
Okay there’s no way Marcille could have resisted complaining there.
“No, absolutely not, I am not sleeping next to a dead Trillipede!!”
“Oh my god Marcille you named it?” Chilchuck stifles a laugh, very blatantly making fun of her.
“No, that- I’d just been calling it that in my head— it makes sense!! It’s a big millipede!” The attempt to defend herself is futile. The damage has been done. She’s no better than Laios. Defeated, she buries her head in her hands.
“Actually, this is just a massive centipede. Cuz it’s venomous. But unlike normal centipedes, the bite is not immediately noticeable. Most don’t even realise they’re bitten until they go looking for wounds so yes, actually, we should camp here. Falin needs to check for bites.”
…who is the party leader. Somehow.
“Okay, okay, but we can at least move a bit away from the bug corpse? Or move it ? Please?” Marcille felt like she was begging. Actually, yes, she was.
“Yeah. Yeah I don’t actually want to sleep or eat next to it either now that I think about it.” Namari concurs, stepping over the disgusting segments to get behind it. The rest of the party follows, all helping to push the monstrosity around the corner and out into the narrow corridor. Marcille feels better already. Even though she had to touch it.
The group sets down sleeping mats and rucksacks, organising themselves around where the fire would be, but they can’t have one down here. There’s nowhere for the smoke to go. They’ve had to bring raw and pre-cooked rations, which Marcille is not keen on. She sets up her mat near the wall as usual. The party had a way their beds tended to be organised, and Falin was always up against a wall. She just liked it. It was weird, but Marcille began to find comfort in it too, after many adventures of placing her mat closest to the person she was closest to. Sure enough, Falin sets up against the wall and sits on her knees, gesturing to Marcille.
“Alright. Cmon.”
“Huh?”
“Check-up. For the bites. I’ve already done Laios. And Shuro, he was pretty worried but I went over him twice and he’s fine.”
Oh he was ‘worried’ was he?
“Oh, yeah, sure.” Is all she ends up saying, removing her cloak. Falin checking up on everyone was a common occurrence, as sometimes the severity of an injury should be decided by a professional, and she didn’t trust this group’s honesty, but Marcille thought it felt personal. At least the care the cleric took with her was comforting, she somewhat enjoyed the healing process even though she could do it herself.
Falin inspects the elf, running her hands over her occasionally, before spotting something on her forearm.
“Oh-“
“Oh? What? Is there something?” Marcille hadn’t been paying attention to herself, too transfixed on Falin’s focused expression. She liked it a lot. Exactly the same as when they went to school.
“Mhm. Could be from the centipede.” She looks a little closer, pulling the fabric of Marcille’s dress sleeve up and examining the wound. This prompted Marcille to have a look herself. The gash was not hospital-deep, but still a considerable wound. Its placement suggested she had got this when her arms were raised in defence while casting the whirlwind. Ah. That would make sense.
Her train of thought is interrupted by Falin biting her arm where the gash is. Wait, what? Marcille jerks back in alarm, then realises Falin isn’t biting down. What is she doing - kissing it better?? She wants to say something, but only manages a puzzled
“Uh…”
Falin recognises this sound though (possibly because she does weird stuff all the time and Marcille likely responds the same way each time) and pulls back to explain, spitting behind her before she speaks.
“I have to suck the poison out. I would just put it in hot water but we don’t have a fire to heat the water with. So I’m using the scorpion method.”
And just like that, her mouth was back on Marcille’s arm. Surely this was not sanitary. Not that Falin ever cared about that. So she keeps her mouth shut and just winces at the… the very weird feeling of having venom sucked out of an open wound. Weird truly was the only word for it. It wasn’t pleasant, sure, but not painful or uncomfortable. Eventually, she finishes, spitting again. A dull pain was creeping into where she had been cut now that the poison was out. It must have some painkilling effect that stops people from noticing and treating the injury until it’s too late.
That’s actually pretty interesting .
…Laios can never know I just had that thought.
“Okay. That should be it. Now if I heal it over there won’t be poison stuck in your system. Thanks for holding still, you’re doing good Marcille.” Falin places a hand over the wound and begins using her healing magic.
Worth it. It was all worth it for those words. The words and the way she said them. She felt like a child at the dentist being reassured, but she didn’t care. She stayed still as she was told, but it was taking a while. Eventually, Marcille speaks up.
“You don’t have to take your time with it you know, I can handle the healing pains.”
Falin only lets out an amused breath, which completely softens Marcille internally. It was such a calming noise. Everything was okay if Falin was laughing like that.
“Sure you can, but this is a deep cut. And we have time. If I can go slower I always will, it’s just better to do it that way. Trust me.”
“I always do.” Marcille mumbles, not really thinking about it. But she definitely thinks about it when Falin lifts her gaze for a second to make eye contact, not moving her head. Her expression is as it always is, calm, rational, a hint of that playfulness she’s had her whole life. There’s a twinge of something else this time, amusement perhaps. This simple action makes Marcille’s heart rate spike. Why did she say that?? It’s true, yes, but an unnecessary detail right now. And she definitely acknowledged it. She suddenly feels very light headed. Maybe it’s something to do with how red her face is, which Falin also acknowledges. Why did she have to acknowledge it??
“Are you okay? If you’re sick it could be from the poison, that would be bad.”
She worries, pressing a hand to Marcille’s temple. Her friend could never hide the slight playfulness in her voice when she wasn’t being entirely sincere. That was one thing Marcille knew all too well about her.
“Oh shut up.” She bats her hand away, checking her temperature herself instead, covering her face in the process.
“You’re supposed to be healing me. Maybe focus on doing your job.”
Falin properly laughs this time, not just an expression of breath. That sound is enough for Marcille’s expression to soften again, allowing her friend to grab her arm and resume healing the large injury with her weathered hands. Callouses and scars peppered her knuckles and palms. They had history she couldn’t help but admire. Their rough texture combined with Falin’s naturally gentle touch made for that safe feeling Marcille always got around her.
When Falin finally speaks again, her voice comes out more somber, lacking that slight playful lilt it usually holds.
“I should’ve cast something.”
“Hm?” This catches Marcille off guard, glancing up from her wound to watch her. When she does, she realises Falin’s normally relaxed, squinted, gaze has gotten more intense.
“You shouldn’t have had to make a whirlwind to protect yourself. I’m the magical barrier for… this party.”
“You don’t have to be. Not all the time. At least not for me, I can protect myself with my own magic—“
“ Especially for you.” Falin cuts in, her tone completely certain.
Marcille waits for her to elaborate, but she doesn’t, continuing to heal what is now a closing graze on Marcille’s arm. She doesn’t have to be explained the healing process like the others. Naturally this will take longer because poison can cause tremendous healing pains if traces are left in the blood— which they will be, thanks to their… unorthodox method of removal —so they sit in silence for a good minute before Marcille’s confusion overrides her contentment of the moment.
“Why?”
Falin only sighs, which makes her heart sink a little.
“I couldn’t take it if you got hurt. Like, properly hurt. Especially if— because I couldn’t protect you, it would be my fault. I just couldn’t do it. And the dangers will only get worse from here so I need to keep you safe, because the alternative just…” she trails off there, leaving it at that. But Marcille understands.
She’s unsure of what exactly she’s feeling right now though. At first she was worried about that tone of hers, she’s very rarely that serious . There’s Falin being sensible-serious and then there’s Falin being angry-serious and this seemed to lean towards the latter. But there was nothing to be angry at, so Marcille didn’t quite understand. She was a weird one.
And now she was feeling something different. She wasn’t sure what, but it was different. The slight anger in Falin’s eyes was enough to make her fidget slightly, and all this talk of ‘keeping her safe’ was only making her feel even weirder. It was nice, knowing Falin would always be there to protect her, but there’s just… something else. She’s suddenly very aware of how much smaller than Falin she is.
So Marcille only leans over to ruffle her hair as she did, but the teasing was still somewhat affectionate. She needed Falin to know she appreciates her words.
“Pff, you care about meeee.”
“Yeah, yeah, you already know I do, you ass. Makes me think you just want me to say it.”
She dismisses her hand with that stupid grin on her face.
The intensity is gone from her expression, which alleviates that strange feeling that had tightened her chest momentarily.
“I will neither confirm nor deny that theory.”
Marcille watches Falin close up the wound finally, and flexes her hand in amazement.
“Whoa, you were right, no pain. It’s not even that itchy.”
“Don’t you dare scratch it. You always do, it’s like you have zero self control.” Falin rolls her drowsy eyes, but she retains a half-smile and releases Marcille’s arm.
“Yeah okay mom .” She returns the eye roll. “Seriously though, Falin, you’re incredible.”
Falin seemingly struggles to take the compliment, but does so graciously. Her face always had a slight flushed quality about it, but now Marcille could swear the pretty shade had deepened.
“Thanks. I mean, I try. I have to be. I- thank you.”
—
Dinner was… not noteworthy. A day underground and Marcille already missed pasta.
No , she decided, that’s pathetic. Get used to nomadic living. You can’t possibly enjoy every meal with this lifestyle.
Although the after dinner ritual was definitely one of the things Marcille cherished about adventuring. Second to the morning ritual. The fighters sharpened their weapons— or Namari did, usually —and the spell casters would prepare spells for the next day and make sure their mana was topped up.
Falin, a typically touchy person, would lean on Marcille’s shoulder as they both read from their spell books.
Would it be selfish of Marcille to hope that no more magic users ever joined their party?
Namari was explaining types of metal to Shuro, but it seemed like everyone but him was listening. Rude.
“I mean, tallman steel is fine and all… if you’re hunting butterflies. No offence guys but really, only dwarf metals hold the correct weight balance and they stay sharper for longer.”
“None taken.” Laios assured cheerfully. He seemed to at least take some interest in Namari’s interests, which she definitely appreciated about him. Even if she wasn’t afraid to tell him if he was being weird, which Marcille appreciated about her, but sometimes she was a bit too harsh on the guy.
She misses the warmth of Falin’s body as soon as it leaves her side, (because it was cold. That was the reason.) but they needed to get plenty of rest for the next day.
They had to cover quite a distance and, now that they’ve taken a shortcut, nobody knew quite where to go from here.
Marcille settled into her sleeping bag, casting a glance at Falin, who had already fallen asleep, somehow. Both of the Toudens were heavy sleepers, and could just stop and sleep anywhere. She allowed herself to watch her friend’s peaceful form for two more seconds before trying to get some sleep herself.
Falin’s words from before lingered in the back of Marcille’s mind before she went to sleep.
“The dangers will only get worse.”
She was right. If there were giant centipedes this shallow into the caverns, what could be next..?
She doesn’t want to think about it.
She sleeps instead.
—