OP Absorption

Fin looked up at Meg. Her face was all wet, but she also looked super set on something. He got it then. She'd done something pretty big to help him out.

"You..." he tried to say, but his voice was just this scratchy noise. Man, he felt tired, like more tired than he'd ever been in his life.

"Don't try to talk right now, Fin," Meg said. Her voice was a bit shaky, but she sounded firm. "Just rest. You were… like, really, really bad off."

Scarlet was there too, and she looked like she'd been through a wringer herself. She kind of grumbled, "Yeah, Boss. You scared the crap out of all of us this time. You were super close to just, like, checking out for good." She shifted where she was kneeling, and it looked like it hurt. "My arm is killing me, by the way."

Arachne watched him, and her usually chill face had clear signs that she was worn out. "My Lord, your core was almost totally empty. Meg was able to… help get it stable again."

Fin took that in real slow. Meg had helped him. He looked back at her again. She seemed, I don't know, different, stronger in a way he couldn't quite put his finger on.

He tried to push himself up to sit, but this big wave of weakness hit him and made him stop. "The castle..." he managed to get out, his voice still pretty weak.

"It seems to be holding up for now, my Lord," Arachne told him, her eyes looking around the hall. "The shaking and stuff has calmed down a lot since your core started working better."

"Good," Fin said, simple as that. He knew he needed to check out all the damage. The damage to himself, and to his domain. He felt like he'd run a super long race and then got smacked by a bus.

Mara came a bit closer then, looking really pale. She was holding a bowl and some bits of cloth. "I… I don't know if any of this is useful," she said, her voice quiet and unsure. "But I brought some water."

"Thanks, office drone," Scarlet said, but her voice didn't have its usual sharp bite. "I could actually use some of that right now." She looked at Fin. "You probably could too. You look like absolute garbage."

Fin didn't argue with that. He did feel like garbage. He let Meg help him take a small sip of water from the bowl. It didn't taste like much, but it was wet, and his throat felt super dry.

"What happened?" Fin asked, his voice a bit stronger now. "With the Spire? With… well, with all of it?"

Scarlet snorted. "What happened is you went totally nuts trying to open a door that obviously wanted to stay closed. Then you almost blew your own head up and left us to deal with the mess you made with Unit 7." She paused for a sec. "Which I did, by the way. Mostly." She kind of waved her good arm around. "Then we had to drag your half-dead butt back here, and then you actually decided to kick the bucket for a minute."

"He did not technically die," Arachne corrected calmly, though she also looked beat. "His core functions stopped for a bit. There's a clear difference."

"Felt a lot like dying to me," Scarlet mumbled. She looked right at Fin. "Point is, you owe Meg big time. Little miss sunshine here basically jump-started your engine."

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

Fin looked at Meg again. He didn't really know what to say to that. 'Thanks' just didn't feel like enough. So, he just nodded slowly. He got what she meant.

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

"Yes, I got her," Arachne said. "She was unconscious when I found her but seemed okay otherwise. The thing that lives in the Lock… it didn't seem to notice her at all."

"That was lucky for her," Fin said quietly. He remembered how strong and scary that place felt. He never wanted to go near it again. But he had a bad feeling it wasn't over. That thing, whatever it was, knew about him now.

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

"You're not wrong there," Scarlet said with a grimace. "Gabriel is probably already dreaming up something extra nasty for us after we trashed his fancy Spire and melted his pet psychos." She tried to move her broken arm and winced. "Seriously, someone needs to fix this. It's getting really annoying."

Arachne looked at Scarlet's hurt arm like a doctor might. "I can try to set the bone, but my healing abilities are pretty limited, especially right now. It'll be… pretty uncomfortable for you."

"Just get it over with," Scarlet grumbled back. "Can't be worse than how it got broken."

Fin watched them. He felt this heavy weight of responsibility. He'd put all of them in serious danger. He'd almost wrecked everything he'd built. And Meg… Meg had saved his life. He knew he needed to get stronger. Not just raw power, but smarter too. This whole charging in recklessly thing, it wasn't working out. Lyra was right about that.

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

But first, rest. And he needed to make sure his castle wasn't about to fall apart. He focused inside, trying to feel how his domain was doing. It felt weak, damaged, but the connection was still there. It was slowly mending, just like his body. And that was thanks to Meg.

He closed his eyes for a moment. Lots to think about. Lots of people to protect.

Fin opened his eyes again. The immediate danger seemed over, but he knew they weren't safe. "Arachne," he said, his voice a bit stronger, "can you check the castle's wards? Make sure everything's secure, as much as it can be."

Arachne nodded. "Yes, my Lord. I'll check the domain's defenses right away." She pushed herself up, still a bit stiff, and walked towards the main hall entrance, already focused.

Fin then looked at Mara, who was still nearby, looking totally overwhelmed. "Mara," he said, trying to sound gentle. "Are you… okay? After being in that… place?"

Mara flinched when he mentioned the Lock chamber. She hugged herself tight. "I… I don't really remember much," she said, her voice small. "It was just… dark. And cold. I think I passed out pretty fast." She looked at him, her eyes full of fear. "What was that place, Fin?"

Fin paused. He didn't really want to explain the Abyssal Lock to her, not when she was already so freaked out. "It was… a really old part of the Spire," he said, being vague. "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. "Safe is a strong word, Boss. We're stuck in a busted-up magic castle with a psycho Association probably building a super-weapon to come after us. I wouldn't call that 'safe'."

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

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

Fin felt that weird warmth in his chest again. It was… nice, in a way he wasn't used to. "I'll be fine," he told her. "Just super tired." He pushed himself to sit up a bit more, wincing. "We all need to get our strength back. And then, we make a new plan."

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

"I'll try," Fin said, though he couldn't make promises. Trouble just seemed to find him.

He looked around the main hall. The light was still dimmer, and he could feel the weakness in his domain, but it was holding. They were alive. Together. For now, that was enough. He knew the fight was far from over. Gabriel would be coming. King Kain was still out there. And now this Abyssal Lock, and the Argent Covenant. The world was way bigger and more complicated than he'd thought.

But he wasn't alone. He had Meg. He had Arachne, who was weirdly loyal. He even had Scarlet, annoying but surprisingly useful. And Mara was here too, though he wasn't sure what to do with her yet.

He leaned back against the stone, feeling the exhaustion deep in his bones. He'd rest. And then, he'd 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 beat up and under siege. He closed his eyes. Sleep. He really needed sleep.