Hymn of the Elder Gods

When Things Go Amiss

"You're going to tear your shoulder open again," Aska drawled, and Eve shot her a dirty glare.

"Shut up," she hissed, without straightening from her awkward half-crouch as she peered around the corner. "It's like you want us to get caught."

"I shouldn't have said anything," Aska sighed, leaning, casually, against the side of the building as though nothing were amiss. "But how was I supposed to guess that you knew the guy? Why do you always make the craziest friends?"

"Samir isn't a friend," Eve muttered, watching the front door of the commissioner's building suspiciously. If the guy was caught, he'd certainly be brought here - to have his memory erased, or, to be executed. She couldn't be sure which decision they'd swing towards this time.

"Oh?" Aska said. The smile in her voice was palpable. "You're awfully worried about this...not friend of yours."

"Just don't want to be responsible for his death," Eve grumbled. "Have enough on my conscience."

"Yeah, I bet. Like how you're going to pay me back for all the trouble I'm about to go through."

"You volunteered."

"I was volun-told, by you, to save the human, or live the rest of my life with a guilty soul. Do we even have a soul?"

"Aska," Eve hissed, slapping her arm to shut her up. "There." She pointed up.

Samir was perched on the very edge of a white marble roof several dozen paces ahead. Very much not caught. Instead, he was stalking the sanctifier, like he had a personal vendetta against the thing. His focused, furrowed brows pinched together as he leaned another inch out over open air. Eve flinched.

For a long time, the two women were silent, staring blankly as the creature strolled silently past him, without reacting, even slightly, to his presence. It seems Samir had an unusual effect on all the creatures he encountered, and not just Eve. Aska's jeer tickled her ear.

"Not friends huh? I can certainly see why that might be the case-" Eve elbowed her. Hard. Aska choked out a muffled cough.

"Help me get him down?" Eve ignored her, eyes trained on the man, who had dug his fingers into the building edge. "What the fuck is he doing? Does he want to die?" But, before her eyes, Samir clenched the few, feeble inches of overhang and swung downwards, landing in a crouch as silent as a cat. The sanctifier had begun to climb up the set of impressive steps towards the commissioner's entrance hall. Samir seemed determined to follow.

Eve socked him on the back of the head, a blur of motion, and before she could so much as say another word, Samir had her pinned against the wall, warm and broad against her front.

"Eve?" he gasped, the harsh grasp on her hands immediately loosening, putting a careful breath of distance between them.

"Yes," Eve hissed, arching up so she could bring her face closer to his. "You're a goddamn idiot but I didn't think you were suicidal. Why are you here?"

"I followed you."

A dry look - there wasn't an expression in the universe that Eve could use to fully express her frustration. "Yes," she said, slowly. "I guessed as much." Samir ducked his head, just slightly. He still hadn't let go of her wrists.

"This is going to sound crazy," he whispered, his long eyelashes making his eyes go dark in the dimness of Cropis. "But I don't know why I was compelled to follow you. All I know is that I couldn't allow you to leave on your own. That things would end disastrously if I did."

Eve licked her lips, mouth suddenly dry. "I hate to shoot down your expectations, but if we can survive the next five minutes, I would already consider that a positive result. You essentially sealed your own fate by coming down here."