Heart to Heart

Chapter 28

The cell door opened up and I was tossed in with Karlach. The door slammed shut and the guard walked off. I sighed and sat up, turning to where Karlach was. Her wrists were resting on her knees, her feet planted firmly on the cold ground. Her tail was wrapped around her left ankle and her gaze was as if she was staring into the void. Tears slipped down her face and dripped onto the ground.

"H-He just tossed me aside, again," she said.

"Karlach," I said.

"Why would he do that? Why would he do something like this again? Did he not learn his lesson? Did I not learn my lesson? Why does everything have to be a life lesson?"

Her arms wrapped around her legs and she tucked them against her chest, her head resting on top of her knees. She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face in the space between her chest and legs. Her shoulders trembled as quiet, muffled sobs came from her. I scooted over towards her and wrapped my arm around her.

"Want to know what I think?"

"What?"

"He's afraid."

"Afraid?"

"More specifically, afraid of you. You've come so far from when you were with him. Sure you were literally put through hell, but look at you. Stronger than ever. He's afraid of what you're capable of. Why do you think he immediately took action when you charged towards him?"

"I thought he was being a douche."

"He was and still is. But he's afraid of what you're capable of doing because he has seen it first hand what you're able to do. Sure, he hasn't seen you take down multiple demons at a time with your mighty axe, but he probably has seen your scuffles."

"Yep."

"So he knows your strength, to an extent. He wanted to get rid of the problem before it escalated."

"Why are you in here then?"

"I wanted to fight at first. I was able to talk, but I did not get answers from him. He is keeping that close to his chest. But he kept asking about me and how I know you and what I am to you. Anyway, when it was just the two of us, I tried to kill him. I injured him, badly. And that is how I ended up in here."

"You really do take after me."

"I've been on this journey with just you for a while now," I smiled. "Maybe going on week."

"Yeah. I heard something."

"What is that?"

"That when you're attracted to someone," she pulled her head up. "You start to speak and kind of act like them."

My face started to heat up, but that brought a light to Karlach's eyes. A sweet smile appeared before she pressed her forehead against mine.

"I-I don't understand these feelings. I can't tell if they're romantic or just admiration."

"That's alright," Karlach said. "I've waited ten years for someone like you. What's a little longer?"

"Even then, you deserve someone better."

"I deserve you," she whispered. "All of you."

There was some silence before I pulled away, an idea coming to mind

"I can get us out of here."

"How?"

"I may not be a druid like Halsin, but he and Gale taught me how to do basic shapeshifting."

"Shapeshifting?"

"Yeah. Gale taught me how to shapeshift generically, while Halsin told me about how he shape changes into animals."

"Have you done it before?"

"Maybe a couple of times."

"Can you change back?"

"Yes," I said slowly.

"Y/N," Karlach said. "I am not letting you change into something and then have no idea how you change back."

"It only lasts for about an hour at most," I said, standing up.

"Y/N, wait."

I closed my eyes and changed into a mouse. I turned to face Karlach as her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Holy shit," she said.

I made my way past the bars of the cell door and scurried off.

"Be careful!" Karlach told me.

I squeaked before heading off to a room I knew that had keys. Reaching the room, I changed back into myself, which was the second successful time I had changed back without there being any issues. One time I changed into a cat and I had a cat tail for an hour. Then there was this one time where I changed into a dog and my horns were replaced with dog ears for about thirty minutes. It looked extremely odd. Thankfully Shadowheart had a hat to cover them up. Grabbing the keys, I walked out of the room and carefully made my way back to where Karlach was. One thing I found odd was we were the only prisoners here. We were still in the fortress, which might explain it. Returning, Karlach stood up and her tail started to wag excitedly. Flipping through some keys, I was able to get the one where it unlocked the door. As soon as she was able to get out, she pulled me into a tight hug, her tail wagging harder and faster, making her entire body sway back and forth. I chuckled, hugging her tightly as my tail wagged, too.

"Someone's excited," I said.

"I can say the same to you," Karlach said.

I set the keys back in the room and now we just needed to find a way out of the prison we were in. While we were doing that, we were formulating a plan.

"Gortash is probably in his personal quarters now since he is injured. We can surprise attack him and end him right there," I said.

"How are we going to get there without the Steel Watch knowing we're coming after him?"

"I think I know a way we can get past them," I said as we emerged from the underground prison.

"How?" Karlach asked, following me. "He took everything from us and I have no idea where it is."

"I'll be back soon, then," I changed into a butterfly, fluttering off.

"I'll stay here I guess," Karlach said.

I followed the trail of blood that was staining the ground. Despite the carpet being red, the deep red contrasted with the lighter red. Finding the room Gortash was in, now I just needed to find where our things were. Thankfully I didn't have to look far, as they were in the same corridor Gortash was in before Karlach was taken. Flying back to Karlach, I changed and landed in front of her.

"Um, you have something on your head," Karlach said and pointed to where her horns were.

I reached up and instead of horns, they were replaced with the antennas of a butterfly.

"Shit," I said. "Better than the wings and or legs."

"Were you able to find everything?"

I nodded my head, "Follow me."