the zest chronicles

It was the third morning after Warpus’s fight with Krim. They woke up again at a messy desk, and looked dismayed at the puddle of drool that was beginning to dry on the unlucky piece of parchment. Not even a minute into the day and their chest started to ache. The dogs keeping them company at their feet only served as a reminder of why.

After feeding the group of them, they left the area, wanting to see any landscape but that one.

Their wandering took them to the Nether, through the portal Krim painstakingly magicked and out the other, which seemed to loom above them, buzzing with energy. Why this portal worked with such ease, Warpus never bothered to figure out. They were sure Krim would know something of it.

-

Lokeii, on the other hand, had spent the past two days biding his time, trying to forget about what had happened to his sister. Ari had died years ago, and he had struggled with that concept ever since. Her disappearance was a sort of closure, an acceptance he was more or less forced to meet. Ari was finally gone from any physical form, and while he could always attempt to speak to her through the Stars, he thought it might be better to let her rest for a bit. She had lived an unsavory life, to say the least.

Spawn seemed more or less abandoned, so he explored the area more freely than he had months before. His snooping had eventually led him back to where it always did, the bunker in front of the portal that Warpus and Krim had once lived in. It was in horrible shape, threatening to cave in, but it was shade, and that was enough to make it a 5-star inn for him.

The weather was unbearable, and most of Lokeii's days were spent with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Of course, this did little to help as he usually ended the day drenched in sweat anyways. He retreated from the unbearable sun inside the cave-like structure, usually going out once the sun had given way to night when there was a short reprieve from the heat.

He wasn't sure what he was doing at Spawn still, but the journey back to Tragedy Town was days long, and although the weather atop the mountains would be much more preferred, he didn't know if he was ready to see Ari's empty house.

On the third day after Ari's disappearance, Lokeii had dug around in the bunker a bit more, mostly out of curiosity. He had found what appeared to be a journal or diary of some sort, and couldn't help but take a peek inside. Based on the name written inside the cover, he assumed it belonged to Warpus. Bringing the book back to his little setup on the floor of the bunker, which consisted of an old blanket and his belongings, he opened the journal only to be disappointed when he couldn't read any of the handwriting.

-

Warpus stepped out onto soft grass, crinkling dryly around their feet in protest. It was summer now, they noted, though it had nothing on their home in the savanna.

The weather had turned Spawn dry, which they knew in a month would quickly change as autumn rain began to creep up on them. They were almost glad they lived away from the ever present humidity of the place. Their eyes took a moment to adjust from the darkness of the Nether, as they scouted the area, still as quiet as the day they left.

They couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic as they wandered around Spawn. That time two years prior had been about when they had first arrived, and it scared them a little to think about how much had happened since. The weather alone was enough to drive them into reminiscing. It reminded them not only of their first months at Spawn, but also of their hometown, which was a months-long journey away from the small settlement. The smell of the land and warmth of the sun inspired them to wander around for a while, taking in the sight of the abandoned structures. It made their heart ache even more knowing not one of these buildings had been lived in for almost a year, and it struck them just how fleeting every moment had been.

Spawn had become a ghost town, and each step felt as though they were disturbing something that had been laid to rest. The nostalgia became too much for them to bear and they headed back to the portal, not wanting to be left alone with their feelings.

Lokeii had done his fair share of rummaging through Warpus’s old home that day. While he was busy not finding anything interesting, Spawn’s usual silence was broken when he heard something outside the bunker. Intrigued, but prepared to find nothing, he slowly crept up the steps, cursing the relentless sun as he squinted through it. He nearly stumbled back down the steps when he saw a figure of some sort near the portal, shielding his eyes in an attempt to make sense of the shape. He was shocked, and somewhat scared, to see Warpus there. He didn't exactly look innocent, and hoped that they wouldn't notice him there. Though, he couldn’t help but spy a little on what they were doing, watching them from behind the wall.

When Warpus took one last look across the landscape, not willing to part with the area just yet, they let their gaze gloss across their old house. As they were about to turn back to the portal, the flash of movement from Lokeii caught their eye, and they whirled back around to face him. They drew their sword and carefully approached, feeling exposed without their usual attire.

Lokeii noticed them turn around and stifled a bout of curses. He decided not to try to hide from them, as scaring them would probably make them more likely to attack him. He silently wished he had brought his own sword up the stairs, and felt equally exposed with no way to defend himself. He slowly walked back into the sunlight with his hands up in front of him, partially to show he had no weapons, and partially to feign some sort of shield for himself. Making eye contact with them, he was lost for words as he tried to think of some sort of excuse for being there.

They lowered their weapon slightly as they realized who it was, but their evidently hostile expression didn't budge.

"What are you doing in my house," Warpus demanded, refraining from using stronger words. This was their first glimpse at him in just under a year, and he looked a wreck. That didn't let them forget their last interaction, however. Lokeii bit his tongue and took a deep breath, unsure what he was supposed to tell them.

"It's hot out," he managed to say, "I just needed the shade for a bit." He couldn't help but shuffle slightly backwards, trying to get as much distance as he could. They considered this for some time and sighed. They tried to think up a comeback, but realized that their house was, in fact, the last remaining structure that didn't smell like horse dung. They didn't really know what to say to him, so they settled with finding answers.

"What are you doing here? No one's seen you in months," they asked, their voice laced with accusation. They had a million more questions they wanted to ask, but he looked reluctant enough to be talking to them in the first place. Lokeii wasn't sure how to answer. He didn't really know why he was there either.

"I don't have anywhere else to go," he said plainly. The air between them was tense and the awkwardness made Warpus want to run away and forget about the whole interaction.

“It’s okay,” they finally gave in. “It’s not like the place was being used anyway.” They hesitated, running the phrasing over in their mind before asking, “Are you okay? It’s been a while..” Their sword arm hung at their side, but by this point they felt it would be too awkward to put the weapon away and just clung onto it for the time being.

Lokeii squinted a bit against the sun. Their response surprised him, the last thing he expected from them was to be worried about his well being. He wasn't sure how to respond, thinking back to their last interaction, he wouldn't call the Peace Party a good memory.

"Yeah, uh, I'm alright," he stumbled through the sentence, feeling like every word was a mistake. He felt like talking to them at all was a mistake. He debated apologizing, but bit his tongue. It didn't exactly seem like a good time to do so.

"Are you?"

They shirked off his question with a simple, “Yeah.” It wasn’t the entire truth, but Warpus was fairly certain Lokeii wasn’t admitting to everything either.

“Are you planning to stay here..?” They asked, turning their conversation back to practical questions. It was easier to talk to him without thinking about what had happened between them. The question felt like a bit of an accusation, and Lokeii wasn't sure how to approach it.

"I don't really plan on staying at Spawn, but if no one is using your old house, uh," he tried to find a way to answer that was least likely to make him seem any more suspicious than he already way, "I might stay here just for a few days until I can go back home." He was sure it was going to be more than a few days until he had the motivation to go walk aimlessly for multiple days to Tragedy Town.

“Okay,” they responded. Warpus didn’t know why they were even agreeing to this. “Just try not to break anything…More than it already is, I guess,” their voice trailed off. They resisted looking behind them, feeling as though they were torn in two, between the urge to leave and never look back, and the other to unload all the questions they had boiling in their mind. Why the hell was he here after everything that happened? And why were they having a conversation as if nothing was amiss?

They clenched their sword a little tighter, tethering all their emotions into a fist. Lokeii glanced nervously at the sword as it shifted slightly in their hand.

"I'll try," he said. Searching for some way to end the interaction, he added stiltedly,

"Sorry for interrupting what you were doing."

“Don’t worry about it,” Warpus replied, continuing, “I have to go now. Just, try to keep everything in one piece, please.” He took another half-step back.

"Yeah, of course," he said with a bob of his head. He realized just then that he had been holding his own hands anxiously in front of himself like a child. He let go of his hands and turned more towards the staircase again, giving them a mumbled, "goodbye," and a low-effort wave, desperate to remove himself from the situation. Warpus almost wanted to laugh at the prospect of being kicked out of their own home.

“Yeah you too,” they didn’t bother to mirror his wave, turning from him to leave. As they made their way to the exit portal, Warpus reflected on their horrible conversation.

Lokeii gritted his teeth as he walked back down the steps, wanting to get out of their line of sight as fast as possible. He couldn't imagine a conversation worse than that. He used to consider himself a master of smalltalk, he didn't have much else of a job as a child, but it seemed he was very out of practice. He sat down on the ground where his belongings were, waiting for the sound of the portal as they walked through it, and then burying his head in his hands with his knees to his chest. He wondered if it would be worth it to go all the way back to Tragedy Town just to avoid another awfully awkward conversation. He waited for his heart rate to calm before he looked up again. Examining the collapsing roof of the building, he thought it might be worth it to try to fix some of the damage his friends had caused. If he was going to stay there for at least a few more nights, he didn't want to get crushed in his sleep.