A bath of blood and wakfu

Chapter 12 | Brotherhood

"I am happy to see you too, Ad.", The dragon had gone for a long hug, the second he saw his brother. When Yugo looked around the room, everyone eyed him with a certain kind of weariness. They were unsure and seemed to tip-toe around him, scared he would break with any move they made. And while they did not have to worry about him anymore, he knew that they would soon have to worry about the future of the entire world of the twelve.

"The mechasms are going to head for the world of twelve.", Yugo revealed, as soon as Adamai let go of him. He felt Amalia's hand tighten around his. She had only ever heard about the mechasms back when Qilby told the story about how the dragons and Eliatrope's home planet were destroyed.

"Wait what?", Adamai was the first one to speak up:"What do you mean?" "Qilby he-" "He doesn't have the eliacube anymore, there's nothing he can do!", The dragon interrupted his brother, his emotions tumbling around in his head. "I met Eliatrope.", the brother started to explain:"And she told me, that Qilby sent a signal to the mechasms, and they will come to haunt the world of twelve as they haunted ours."

"Eliatrope? As in the goddess of the Eliatropes?", Evangeline had heard of her fair share of gods, - with her husband wearing the title of one as well. The goddess eliatrope however was none of the gods that belonged to the world of twelve and has only ever been mentioned by Qilby. Therefore her interest was only natural:"Creator of the Krozmos?" "Together with the great dragon.", Yugo corrected her.

"Are you sure you didn't just imagine all of that? I mean, it's been like ten thousand years since the mechasms eviscerated our planet!", It's not like Adamai mistrusted his brother, but right now he prayed for his brother to be wrong. Because if he wasn't, that would mean the end of the world as they know it.

"Ad, look at me.", the brother gestured towards his body:"This was her doing." To Adamai, this was both the most relieving and the most unsettling thing he could have said. While it meant, that Yugo had indeed not spent eons in the white dimension until he had grown as much as he seemingly had, - which Adamai could not be more thankful for -, it also meant that what he said about the mechasms was likely to be true:"Okay. And when are they supposed to get here?"

"I don't know.", the eliatrope admitted:"She wasn't very specific with most of what she said." "Great.", the cra gripped her nose bridge with her thumb and index finger, letting out a frustrated sigh:"Why can the gods never be a little helpful."

"Well, she did warn me at least. And she helped me unlock another part of my powers.", the second part was barely audible, but the cra picked it up right away:"Another part of your powers?" "Yeah, she gave me the ability to use stasis." "Stasis? Yugo, please speak clear words with us. Or am I the only one who's confused?", their Iop friend interjected.

Yugo tried to explain it in the best way he could, - by showing them. He let the stasis flow into his right palm, before forming it into a sword. The moment the purple energy appeared inside the room, he could feel the air change. His friends were stunned, skeptical, and even a little concerned. "If Wakfu is the essence of life and fluidity, then stasis is the essence of death and stability. That's how Eliatrope put it.", then he let the weapon disappear right back into thin air:"But even with this power, we'll need a plan."

If Yugo was being honest, he wasn't entirely sure how much stasis would even help them. Sure, he assumed it was somewhat more reactive than Wakfu, but that would not be enough, not by a long shot. "A plan...", Eva mumbled, her forehead in wrinkles.  "We should tell the rest of the world of twelve about it.", Amalia was convinced that this was the first thing they should do before getting caught up in other things:"Like we did when Qilby first appeared. We should gather the leaders and inform them. They will listen to me, and if not me, then they will at least listen to my brother. That way, every nation can protect themselves as best as possible."

"That's not gonna help us. If the mechasms get here, they won't leave a single spot of land untouched. There will be no hiding and waiting it out, just death and destruction.", the dragon was agitated, the helplessness he experienced only making it worse. "She's still right though. The other nations need to be in the know. And we need to at least try to ask for their support in this matter.", Eva supported her sadida friend.

"How about you arrange the meeting Amalia.", Ruel tried to compromise:"And meanwhile the rest of us will think of a plan?" The princess could feel Yugo squeezing her hand, so she looked up at him. He was giving her a reassuring look:"It would mean a lot, Amalia. You are the only person that can do this, the leaders of the world of twelve won't listen to any of us." She didn't hesitate another second:"You can count on me, and meanwhile you better figure something out."

And while Yugo had been reassuring Amalia just a second ago, there was a heavy silence once she had left the room. "So. What is the plan now?", Dally asked. "How do you prepare for an enemy, that you have never encountered before?", Eva mumbled into her hand. "You don't. You take all of your Kamas, sit in a safe place, and wait it out.", Ruel said, only half-jokingly. "And let everyone else die? Ruel, you can't be serious." "I'm just saying!", he defended himself.

Then they started throwing different ideas around. Dally started out, saying it would only be a matter of brute force, and if they would have enough of it, they would be fine. Evangaline imminently shut him down, reminding him that brute force and luck were hardly a plan.

When Adamai theorized bringing back the Eliatrope children and Balthazar, Yugo told him, that that was not an option, - endangering them was not in any way defendable for him - and had failed on their old planet already.

Yugo argued, that they could just fight them together as a brotherhood, and always fight one at a time. If he was being honest though, not even he believed that that was in any way a sustainable or smart idea, and, as Evangeline noted again, hardly a plan.

They had argued for hours, about what they could do, and how they could get rid of the mechasms before they could bring despair over all the parts of the world of twelve, but the only thing they could think of, that could possibly have enough power to avert a crisis like that were the six dofuses. "I can't use them again!", Yugo almost screamed, his voice shaking:"We all know what happened last time."

"But we might not have a choice Yugo!", Eva was less upset at him, and more upset at the prospect of losing her home, her friends, and her family. Adamai stayed silent, not knowing what stance to take on the matter. While last time, they indeed had given his brother the power to protect the entirety of the world of twelve, he still held the same opinion he had when he and his brother first had an argument regarding the matter. Though at the moment,  he was almost willing to agree with Amalia.

The Dofus had the ability to destroy their world and ruin people's lives. Their power was not meant for the mortals, and that's why they were somewhere safe, where no one would find them. Somewhere only Goultard knew. In his opinion, that was a good choice, but now he was afraid, he might have to change that outlook on things.

"Maybe we should all take a break, and cool off a bit.", Ruel interjected, as he felt the air in the room thicken with tension. He slowly walked toward the door, taking everyone but Yugo with him:"Besides, Yugo should get some more rest."

Yugo hesitantly extended his hand in silence, none of his friends noticing. He didn't want to get more rest, and he didn't want them to leave him alone. He had been alone enough over the past weeks, but he let them leave, not a sound of resistance leaving his throat.