OP Absorption

Fin looked up at Meg. Her face was wet from crying, but she also looked very determined. He understood in that moment. She had done something important to help him.

"You..." he started to say, but his voice was just a rough sound. He felt incredibly tired, more tired than he had ever been.

"Don't try to talk right now, Fin," Meg said, her voice a little shaky but firm. "Just rest. You were… in a really bad way."

Scarlet was there too, and she looked pretty beat up herself. She grumbled, "Yeah, Boss. You gave all of us a real scare this time. You almost checked out for good." She shifted uncomfortably where she knelt. "My arm is seriously killing me, by the way."

Arachne watched him, and her usual calm face showed clear signs of exhaustion. "My Lord, your core was almost completely depleted. Meg was able to… assist in its stabilization."

Fin processed that information slowly. Meg had helped him. He looked back at her again. She seemed different, stronger in a way he could not quite name.

He tried to push himself up to sit, but a heavy wave of weakness made him pause. "The castle..." he managed to say, his voice still weak.

"It seems to be holding for now, my Lord," Arachne reported, her gaze sweeping around the hall. "The instability has lessened significantly since your core began to recover its function."

"Good," Fin said simply. He knew he needed to assess all the damage. The damage to himself, and the damage to his domain. He felt like he had run a very long race and then gotten hit by a large vehicle.

Mara came closer then, looking very pale. She was holding a bowl and some pieces of cloth. "I… I don't know if any of this helps," she said, her voice quiet and uncertain. "But I brought some water."

"Thanks, office drone," Scarlet said, though her voice lacked its usual sharp sarcasm. "I could actually use some of that right now." She looked at Fin. "You probably could too. You look like absolute crap."

Fin did not argue with her assessment. He did feel like crap. He let Meg help him take a small sip of water from the bowl. It did not taste like anything in particular, but it was wet, and his throat felt very dry.

"What happened?" Fin asked, his voice a little stronger now. "With the Spire? With… well, with everything?"

Scarlet snorted. "What happened is that you went completely psycho trying to open a door that clearly wanted to stay shut. Then you nearly blew up your own head and left us to clean up the mess you made with Unit 7." She paused for a moment. "Which I did, by the way. Mostly." She gestured vaguely with her good arm. "Then we had to drag your half-dead butt back here, and then you actually decided to die for a minute."

"He did not technically die," Arachne corrected calmly, though she also looked tired. "His core functions ceased temporarily. There is a distinct difference."

"Felt a lot like dying to me," Scarlet muttered under her breath. She looked directly at Fin. "The main point is, you owe Meg big time. Little miss sunshine over here basically jump-started your engine."

Meg blushed a little at that but also looked pleased with herself. "I just… I didn't want you to go, Fin."

Fin looked at Meg again. He did not really know what to say to that. Saying 'thanks' felt like it was not nearly enough. So, he just nodded slowly. He understood what she meant.

"The Abyssal Lock," Fin said then, his thoughts slowly starting to clear up a bit. "Mara was still inside there."

"Yes, I retrieved her," Arachne said. "She was unconscious when I found her but seemed otherwise unharmed. The entity that resides within the Lock… it did not seem to register her presence at all."

"That was lucky for her," Fin said quietly. He remembered the overwhelming and terrifying power of that place. He never wanted to go anywhere near it again. But he had a strong feeling that it was not over. That thing, whatever it was, knew about him now.

"We all need to recover," Fin stated. "Every one of us." He looked at Scarlet's badly broken arm, then at Arachne's obviously tired face, and then at Meg, who still looked drained from her efforts. "And after that, we need to figure out what we are going to do next. The Association isn't going to just forget about what happened at Valerius."

"You're not kidding about that," Scarlet said with a grimace. "Gabriel is probably already cooking up something extra nasty for us after we trashed his precious Spire and melted his pet psychos." She tried to adjust her broken arm and winced in pain. "Seriously, someone needs to fix this arm. It's getting really annoying."

Arachne looked at Scarlet's injured arm with a clinical expression. "I can attempt to set the bone, but my healing capabilities are quite limited, especially in my current state. It will be… rather uncomfortable for you."

"Just get it done," Scarlet grumbled back. "It can't possibly be worse than getting it broken in the first place."

Fin watched them. He felt a heavy weight of responsibility settle on him. He had put all of them in serious danger. He had almost destroyed everything he had built. And Meg… Meg had saved his life. He knew he needed to get stronger. Not just in terms of raw power, but he needed to be smarter too. This reckless way of charging into things, it was not working out well. Lyra had been right about that.

He remembered the silver disc he still had in his pocket. The Argent Covenant. Maybe they really did have more answers for him.

But first, they all needed to rest. And he needed to make sure his castle was not about to fall down around their ears. He focused inward, trying to feel the current state of his domain. It felt weak, and he could tell it was damaged, but the connection was still there. It was slowly mending, much like his own body was. And that was thanks to Meg.

He closed his eyes for a moment. He had a lot of things to think about. And he had a lot of people he needed to protect.

Fin opened his eyes again. The immediate crisis seemed to be over, but he knew they were far from safe. "Arachne," he said, his voice a bit stronger now, "can you check the castle's wards? Make sure everything is secure, at least as much as it can be right now."

Arachne nodded. "Yes, my Lord. I will assess the integrity of the domain's defenses immediately." She pushed herself up, her movements still a little stiff, and walked towards the main hall entrance, her focus already shifting.

Fin then looked at Mara, who was still standing nearby, looking completely overwhelmed by everything. "Mara," he said, trying to keep his voice gentle. "Are you… are you okay? After being in that… place?"

Mara flinched a little when he mentioned the Lock chamber. She hugged herself tightly. "I… I don't really remember much about it," she said, her voice small. "It was just… dark. And cold. I think I fainted pretty quickly." She looked at him, and her eyes were full of fear. "What was that place, Fin?"

Fin hesitated. He did not really want to explain the Abyssal Lock to her, not when she was already so scared. "It was… a very old part of the Spire," he said vaguely. "Something the Association was trying to keep hidden. You're safe from it now." He hoped that was true.

Scarlet, who was now trying to let Arachne look at her broken arm without yelling too much, snorted loudly. "Safe is a strong word, Boss. We're stuck in a busted-up magic castle with a homicidal Association probably building a super-weapon to come after us. I wouldn't exactly call that 'safe'."

"It's safer than being out there right now," Fin countered, though he knew Scarlet had a point. He looked at Meg. "Meg, you should rest too. You used a lot of your energy helping me."

Meg shook her head stubbornly. "I'm okay, Fin. Really. I just want to make sure you're alright first." She still looked worried about him.

Fin felt that strange warmth in his chest again. It was… nice, in a way he was not used to. "I'll be fine," he told her. "Just very tired." He pushed himself to sit up a bit more, wincing as his muscles protested. "We all need to recover our strength. And then, we make a new plan."

"A plan that doesn't involve you almost dying again, hopefully," Scarlet interjected, her voice tight with pain as Arachne started to manipulate her broken arm. "Because, honestly, Boss, my nerves can't take much more of your near-death experiences."

"I will try my best," Fin said, though he could not make any promises. Trouble just seemed to find him, or maybe he found it.

He looked around the main hall. The light was still dimmer than usual, and he could feel the lingering weakness in his domain, but it was holding. They were alive. They were together. For now, that was enough. He knew the fight was far from over. Gabriel would be coming. King Kain was still out there somewhere. And now there was this Abyssal Lock thing, and the Argent Covenant. The world was a lot bigger and more complicated than he had ever imagined.

But he was not alone. He had Meg. He had Arachne, who was strangely loyal. He even had Scarlet, who was annoying but surprisingly effective. And now Mara was here too, though he was not sure what to do with her yet.

He leaned back against the cold stone, feeling the exhaustion seep deep into his bones. He would rest. And then, he would figure out how to protect them all. That was his job now, he guessed. He was their King, after all, even if his kingdom was a bit rundown and currently under siege. He closed his eyes. Sleep. He really needed to sleep.