I elbow Navy, intending to hit her in the side, but instead nailing her in the shoulder, considering I'm almost a foot taller. "Hey. We haven't fought together since before we died. What do you say."

I raise my hand

Navy elbows you back, jabbing her elbow into your stomach harshly, grinning. "Hell yez, I'm in." Parker points at Finn. "Question?"

I'll just bite the bullet. I walk up to Finley, arms still crossed, and stare at them.

Finley crosses their arms back, smirking at you. "Good morning, by the way."

"Good morning. How'd you sleep."

"Well enough." They shoot a quick glare at Parker.

"Yeah?" I narrow my eyes. "I slept like a baby. As I'm sure you could have guessed."

"I assumed. That's why I didn't ask." They retort smugly.

I squint at them for a moment longer before huffing and putting my hands on my hips. "So are you going to teach me how to do that, or what?"

Finley grins. "Thought you'd never ask. The ancestors- adjuvants too, maybe- will all be showing you how to fight later. I'll show you then, if you want."

I make my way to Ryker, pretending this is totally normal. I stick my hand out and give him a wide smile. “Hi. I’mm your sistter. And you’re reallly cooll!”

I look at my nails. "Plan to do another personal demonstration?"

"Only if you ask nicely." Finley pats your shoulder mockingly. Ryker shakes your hand firmly. "Hey, I'm your brother, and I'm pretty cool. You aren't too bad yourself." He greets lamely.

"I don't. Once was enough." I look to the side sheepishly, and drop my hand. "And, uh. You were right, anyways. Last night. So." "Thanks."

"I went and confronted her myself." Finley narrows their eyes at you. "We'll talk about that later. For now, find teammates." They step aside and make their way over to a corner.

“Haha. Tthanks.” I look down at him a little so I can see him in his full....(gestures). His coolness ratio diminishes ever so slightly in my mind. “So. Woulld you llike to hellp your cooll sistter and her friends llook for somme ttokens?” I finish off with another smile.

"You-" I shake my head. I call after them. "Are we teammates?"

"If you'd heard yourself ask me that two days ago, you would have speared yourself." They call over their shoulder, not answering your question.

My lips curl into a frown. "Still not off the table," I mutter, and walk over to Sam.

Ryker frowns. "We'll see. I don't exactly want to leave all of my friends behind just when I got them all back." He shrugs.

I nod at Navy and make my way over to Cashel.

Sam nods at Quin as he approaches. "Unless you're breaking up with me, the answer to your question is yes."

I flush. "That was a fuckin one time thing, okay?"

"I still need to learn from you," I open.

I mirror his shrug. “I understtand. I’mm not exacttly raring tto go and leave mmy friends either. Buttt I have to,” I frown. “And allso, I’m prettty sure att lleastt ttwo of your friends are comming with otthers of us anyway?”

"I'll go with your group." Cashel responds coolly, smiling at you. "Unless you invite someone else who pisses me off."

I scan the room for my brother. When I spot him, I walk over, giving him a slight wave. “Hey. Want to team up for all this shit?” I point vaguely in the direction of the compasses.

“so uh obviously we are gonna be heading back to the island”

"I don't see why not." Cole smiles weakly.

I look around the room and frown. "Like who."

Cashel hums, crossing his arms behind his back and scanning the room. "I'll let you know if you do."

“will removing or retrieving the token harm the crawlers”

Sam grins at you, punching your shoulder lightly. "It better fuckin' have been. Yeah, I'll team with you, of course." Parker shrugs helplessly. "Probably not? Ask Finley, they're the deity expert." Ryker rolls his shoulders. "Assemble the rest of your party, then we'll talk, alright?"

I don't have time for cryptic bullshit. I just stare at him, shrug, and walk off.

I grin. “You gott itt!”

I stand there for a few moments, crossing my arms and nodding. “Cool, alright.” I pause, looking around the room once again. “Do you think we should see if we can get our dad to come too? You two were fighting together yesterday, right? How did that go?”

I take in a deep breath. “thanks” I go rejoin Hale.

"He's not a bad fighter." Cole admits. "We work well together. I see something, he fixes it." "If you can convince him to leave her." He adds quietly.

I glance over at Finn. "Hey."

I take a deep breath in and smile. “hey” “so what are you thinking about these tokens”

"It, I, uh." I shut up. "We're going together, right."

“duh” “we can go after the rage one if you want but I think quin might have a handle on that one already”

I visibly relax a little. "I don't really care. I'm just not thrilled about going back... there."

I look back over to Cole. "Hm?"

I make my way over to Painon with a grin, "Hey Pain! You're going with our group yeah?" I lower my voice and glance around conspiratorially, "I wa$$ thinkin about heading to that Eden place for the Life token, I am HELLA curiou$$ about the people that nabbed you."

I let out some air. “yeah cant say im super psyched”

"Yes! Actually, I did want to go back." Painon smiles at you pleasantly. "Sort of. I mean, I don't want to go back, but I feel like I have to." He tucks his head down with a sigh. "Sorry, I know it sounds weird."

I shake my head. "What else? Blood? You're into the... pack thing. Right." I look pointedly at his wolf ears.

Cole sighs, continuing quietly. "Our dad likes the Baroness. A lot."

"Ah." It takes me a second to process that fully. "Wait. He fucking what." I shake my head. "God, that is so fucking weird."

“huh yeah I guess I never put the two together”

Cole opens his mouth and closes it again before speaking again, even more softly. "I saw something about them last night. I can tell you about it later if you want." He glances around.

"So heart, blood, what else."

After watching to see whether or not she’s busy, I make my way over to Etoile quietly, tugging gently on her sleeve. “< hi, mom. how are you feeling? >” I start off, still worried about her. Ill get to asking her in a minute.

i go over to hale and finn, having been eavesdropping confusedly for a little, and stand confidently beside the two of them with my hands at my sides. i raise my eyebrows expectantly. "life?"

I snort and shake my head, "Don't $$weat it dude I get it," I frown and look off to the side, "Well I don't, Ephen wa$$ a damn $$hithole and going back $$ound$$ like HELL but..." I give him a lopsided smile and pat him on the shoulder, "I get why you'd want to. Glad to have you on the team!"

I squint at him, and nod slowly. "Okay." I turn to look around the room once again. "Alright, should we go talk to him?"

"Hey, Pirine!" Etoile smiles at you, resting a hand on your shoulder. "I'm doing great. What about you?"

I spin around. "Where the FUCK did you come from," I mutter under my breath, mostly to myself.

"Thanks... sis." Painon smiles weakly, placing his hand on top of yours for a quick second. "Glad to be here." "You do it." Cole sighs. "If we both go, he'll think we're ganging up on him. And he'd be right."

i shrug. "been here. you just haven't been looking down, i guess"

I jump straight up “AH” “oh hey its just you si hey man” “life sounds good gimme a sec” I shout to the rest of the room “ANYONE CONSIDERING THE LIFE TOKEN”

Painon raises his hand.

“< i’m great! glad to see you’re uh, no longer... >” I gesture to her side with a frown. “< anyways.. i was wondering if you’d like to join in a group with me again. for the, for the tokens! >”

“COOL THANKS PAN” “so thats a no on life sorry bud” “hm what about the opposite” “would your life powers help on the doom planet”

"no worries! diiidn't really want to go back to eden anyway"

“aw sorry” I give Silas a hug.

"So you're... coming with us," I say slowly.

i smile slightly, hugging back. "all good! and uhh, i'm not sure?" i say, to answer finn, i mean. i consider my fear of decay for a moment, grimacing, before trying to discard the thought. "i'm not sure if i'll be able to do anything planet-wide, considering i get drained after healing maybe.. five people? but i'll help where i can!"

Etoile nods encouragingly. "Ah! Well... what tokens are you planning on getting?" She tilts her head.

"assuming your group's not full already!"

“< hope, for sure, probably. i was also cconsidering going for light, too, if cchlori and you were willing to join. it’s not a big deal if you don’t want to! >” I wave my hands around awkwardly.

I look to Hale. “i mean i think we have the room right”

"That sounds good to me!" Etoile grins. "Sure, I'll go with you two. Just make sure to grab some other members too."

I smile brightly, and wrap her up in a hug. “< thank you!!! >”

"Well, Navy's coming with. You two... that's four. Cashel said he'd come if he doesn't hate anyone in our group." I scan the ancestors. I have no desire to work with any of them. "We might be good."

I see Hale’s hesitation. “may i make a suggestion” “number one candra for both silas here and honestly i think a bit of immersion therapy might be good for the both of us also those life powers might be a big help with the dead planet and getting around the mess that is total trauma island”

I scope out my next victims and go to wherever Milo and Seth are with a little wave. “Hi Setth! Hi Mmillo!” I make myself what I hope is a little smaller. “You guys mmaybe wanna join mme, Cavalll, Painon and somme otthers in finding somme sweett ttokens?”

“number two parker cause once again that place is a nightmare and i have a sneaking suspicion that he built it or at least part of it and could help us get through it also guilty pleasure i wanna spend time with my dad”

"oooh, scandalous"

I freeze. "Fuck no," I hiss. "I'll work with Parker. I'm not fucking working with her."

i frown and sigh, having expected this. "well why not? she's not the baroness anymore"

“hale i promise if anything goes wrong we can divide and conquer yeah exactly si”

I shake my head. "I'm not fucking worried about that. Listen, I'm glad you can forgive her, whatever. But she's the reason for most, if not ALL of the things that have gone bad in my life. Fiddler was a Baroness establishment, did you know that? It was a fucking prison, it's where she stashed the rebels, and dissenters, and criminals and thieves." I'm getting steadily louder as I go. I point at my face. "THIS? This is her. And when I look at her--" I point at Candra, now, "it doesn't MATTER that she's changed, she's cured, all I can fucking see is the face of the woman who bombed my town." I drop my hand. "I haven't spoken to her because I respect you, Silas, and I will play nice for once in my fucking life, but I'm not gonna be on her fucking team."

“hale i completely get where you are coming from but that troll over there is not the baroness that is candra kat took over her for years and years and she had no control over what she could do” “we need to help her distance herself from her actions as the baroness and maybe this is how she does it”

Candra and Finley have been talking quietly. When the two overhear Hale's rant, Candra laughs, quietly and bitterly, muttering something to Finley. They scowl and hook her arm with theirs, dragging her away towards the training room without a second thought.

I grit my teeth. "I don't want to help her. I don't want anything to do with her. She can do what she wants and I won't get in her way. That's the best I can offer."

i hold the bridge of my nose, trying to understand how he feels. i sound frustrated, but i'm largely unwilling to do anything but try to help him, so i try to sound at least a little sympathetic. "*she* isn't the one who made your life a living hell! she's just a nice lady, she's my *mom,* she got.. possessed, or something, and the thing that possessed her *used* her *body* to do all of that awful, awful shit you and all our friends. i understand some hesitation, hale, and i'm sorry, truly sorry about everything you've been through, but i think we're both smart enough to know that treating her like she's responsible for everything that happened isn't right" "i don't expect you or anyone here to have instantly warmed up to her after everything, but.." i sigh. "i would really, really appreciate it if you just tried to stop associating her with what happened to her"

“and hale do you honestly believe that this isnt tough for me i spent my entire childhood isolated on an island because of the baroness i could have spent time with navy or levett or maia or seth or pirine or quin or any of my friends if i wasn’t worried about hiding from the baroness underneath the shield surrounding my island its tough to trust her believe me but i trust silas and he trusts her do you trust us”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point.” I nod at Cole, before looking over to where Seb is. “Alright, see you in a bit.” I head over to my dad, stopping near him. “So Cole and I were thinking about working together to find the tokens.” I glance over at him. “You want to come too?”

I nod at Painon with a grin, “Anytime ‘bro’.” I point over at Pythia, “Wanna go help me convince mom to join u$$?”

"Sure." Painon grins. "I really hope she does." Sebastian frowns, sparing a quick glance at the hallway that Candra and Finley left through. "You want me to come with you? I- okay, yeah, stupid question. Right. Of course you do, otherwise why would you have asked." He sighs. "We'll see. I don't want to make any promises right now."

I throw my hands up in the air, exasperated and furious. "Fine! Fucking fine. I'm so fucking sorry, Finn, that I'm not as good-hearted and forgiving and wonderful as you." I turn to and point at Silas. "I'm doing this for you. I am NOT doing it for her. She better not talk to me or even fucking look at me wrong."

“I’m $$ure $$he probably will, I think $$he’$$ got a thing for family $$henanigan$$.” She gestures for Painon to follow as she makes her way to Pythia, waving when she gets there. “Hey mom!”

Pythia is currently glaring holes in the back of Hale's head, but turns to you instead quickly with a smile. "Hey, Cavall, Painon. What can I do for you?"

I grin at her, “We were wonderin if you’d join our group for the $$hard thing, we’re going to Ephen and Eden if you’d wanna see where we grew up or $$omething? I dunno.” I shrug and look around to spot Levett, “Looks like Levett is grabbin the (back)Space Boys as well so we might be going wherever the space shard is.”

i raise my hands defensively in front of myself and take a step back when hale turns to point at me. "alright, alright, i'm sorry, i appreciate it, thank you," i say quickly. it'll be a process, apparently. that is to be expected. "i'll, uh, make sure she knows" "(and please don't take this out on finn)," i add, a bit quieter. parenthetically, even.

"Oh sure, sounds sick!" Pythia grins back reflexively. "I'd love to!" She also adds, muttering, "Though I... have been both of those places before."

Cavall frowns, “Yeah well, I’m $$ure they’re a bit different from what you remember. Ephen i$$ a damn $$hithole, I $$tole a $$pace$$hip when all thi$$ $$tarted to get off that hunk of rock. Anyone who i$$n’t dead or infected with minerot is an a$$$$hole.”

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Pythia sighs. "Always hated that shithole. Only thing I could do was try to make it better for the other people who were stuck there too."

Cavall has an unreadable look on her face as she stares at Pythia for a second, “You’re a better per$$on than me then,” She shrugs, “I did what I could when I $$aw $$tuff like lowblood$$ with bracelet$$ on, but I mo$$tly looked out for my$$elf.”

I go white. I look back and forth between Finn and Silas. Oh, you fucking idiot. You fucking IDIOT. You just said you'd do this exact thing just last night and guess what? You did. Nice job. I do what I do best and clear the fuck out.

Pythia shrugs quickly. "I did it to make the Empress mad. And oh, did it work. Worked a little too well." She laughs lightly. "Everybody knew my name- well, my cool nickname, at least. That's why... I pretended to be a mutantblood." She spares a glance at Painon with a smile. "Pissed her the hell off."

I look to Silas. “i got him”

"you want me to come with, orrr?"

I think for a bit. “sure” I shoot Paker a look like “we’ll be back”

Something's telling me that arguing with him isn't going to really increase my chances of getting him to join the group. "Alright, sounds good." I nod, before walking back to Cole. "Well, he didn't say no."

Parker nods at you shortly, watching you leave. His ears go fully up as you walk away. Cole just sighs. "But no yes."

I spin around and do the I’m watching you hand gesture.

"No yes." I confirm.

I take Sam by the arm and drag her over to Maia and Cole with me. By god, I've never done anything like this before, and I am not going to do it alone. "Hey. You got a group, Dyspen?

I shrug. "Just Cole and I at the moment. What about you guys?"

"Us, and. Uh." I look over my shoulder, scowling. "About 75% sure the asshole with blue hair. The old one."

"Finwhee." Sam mocks quietly.

"More like bitchley."

Parker strolls over to Pythia and pulls her aside, whispering something. She nods and glances around conspiratorially. Etoile storms over, though her footfalls land softly, and grabs them each by the shoulder, making them jump in surprise.

I raise my eyebrows, before nodding. "So, want to combine groups?" I glance over to Cole real quick as I talk.

"Looks like it. I should warn you, though, we're getting the fucked up one."

"Fine by me, I think we've got it fucking covered."

"For sure." I smile. "Those little bitchass worshippers won't know what hit them."

"Oh, uh..." Milo starts, glancing at Seth in question, who shrugs. "Sure! We're down! Or up, y'know, up for it!" Milo laughs nervously. "We'll come."

I smile widely. “Greatt! Gllad tto have you on tthe tteamm.”

After speaking with Etoile, I stand by myself for a moment, trying to think about other possible team members. I’m sure plenty of people are already taken, and with their friends. I just have to think outside the box! I look around, locking eyes with Flo, hesitantly making my way over to her. Even though I just found out she’s family less than 12 hours ago, I still feel oddly nervous around her. “< um.. hi! flo, right? >” I start off awkwardly, giving her a smile.

"Yep! Flo. Flo Tove Saylor, in full. What can I do for you, Pirine?" Flo tilts her head at you, grinning brightly.

It’s always so easy to forget that everyone here knows my name. I’m not used to it. “< well, i was wondering if you’d like to join my group. for the tokens! moms in it, and i am sure i ccan get cchlori to join along, too. having a big sister is so ccool, and it would help us get to know eacch other more. what do you say? >”

"Hmm? Sure, that sounds great!" Flo nods encouragingly. "Like a road trip with the whole family! Almost."

My smile grows wider, not really expecting her to say yes. “< yes!! exacctly! we’ll have a kicck butt family roadtrip! >” I exclaim excitedly.

"Sweet!! So, who else is going? You, Chlori, mom, and me, so far, yeah?" Flo squints, scanning the room. Finley and Candra walk back into the room. They walk side by side, and both of them look better than you anticipated they would. Confident, more reassured. It's nice to see.

I rub my arm sheepishly, nodding. “< sorry, im not really... great at reccruiting people? all of my friends made their own groups and stuff. that sounds dumb, sorry! i, uh! >” I shake my head, calming my frazzled brain down. “< i was thinking about asking my... friend, dane, to join us. he’s a life player. and maybe my friend lirium, too, if she’s willing to do so. she seemed pretty... out of it last night. >”

"No worries." Flo waves it off. "Dane and Lirium seem like great choices! I'm sure they'd be willing to come along." And FINALLY ASSHALEFINN IS BACK.

I make IMMEDIATE EYE CONTACT with Parker. Eyes narrowed.

Parker grins at you innocently, taking a step away from Pythia.