❝ Song of a Swallowtail ❞ - Bloodweave

Chapter 1

In the quiet meadow, where wildflowers grow,

A swallowtail dances in a glorious falsetto. 

It flutters through colors of twilight and sun, 

Singing a song that the stars never knew.

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

Six months.

It had been SIX. MONTHS. And here he was, standing outside of the house of an individual he came to know due to being forced together. To say that anxiety quaked his very core would be an understatement. He felt the sweat prick the back of his neck as he hesitated to knock. It didn't help that it was raining hard, lightning crashing all around him as he HESITATED STILL. His outfit was drenched. He was drenched and he was positive that he was going to catch a cold, but here he was, stubborn like a strange ox.

Six. Bloody. Months.

He didn't know the fate of the others besides the basics, Shadowheart and Lae'zel settled down together in a cozy cabin somewhere, while Wyll and Karlach battled side-by-side in Avernus. Halsin had taken the refugee children and built up a grove, while Minthara was... probably causing chaos somewhere, he didn't really care what happened to her. They never did see eye-to-eye on certain stuff. And Gale... well, he was here. He was glad that everyone got their happy ending and stayed together. Well... besides him. His life was a wild tempest after killing his abuser and destroying the Netherbrain and DON'T get him started on his muddy feelings about a certain someone who he was standing at their door.

He swore he could still hear his voice six months ago as they stood watching the Netherbrain sink into the ocean, Nautiloids burning through the skies as Githyanki screamed war cries. After the tadpole disintegrated, his power of walking in the sunlight faded with it. The sweet tenderness of a lover who didn't know any better morphed into a flamed hatred. He had given up unspeakable powers because someone talked him away from it. Saw that he was more than his bloodthirst and he found himself believing them.

"Astarion," he heard the cracking of the male's knee joints as he joined the vampire spawn in the darkness. He had buried his face in his knees as he wiped the tears that threatened to spill. He was now a slave to the darkness once more. "I've been thinking a lot about what home means. I've traveled far and wide, faced countless battles, and yet... there's this undeniable pull. Would—"

"Probably a pull back to your library and the balcony of Waterdeep," the words fell out of Astarion's mouth and afterwards, he noticed the faintest of flinches. Gale let out a stiff laugh as his hands clasped in front of him, eyes farting away.

"Yeah. Maybe that's it..."

The two sat in darkness together, Karlach had been convinced to go back to Avernus with Wyll, while Shadowheart and Lae'zel went to the darkness to say their goodbyes and told them that their Bhaalspawn friend had chosen to kill themselves and they... left after that. He honestly didn't expect any of them to make it as far as they did and here they were, heroes.

"Feels so strange to be a hero," Astarion had admitted.

"Yes," Gale agreed. "I think normalcy will be an impossible bar to ever reach again."