The Giggling Dark: Session Twenty-Three

Sir Xellous: The 14 year old main character, played by Kurlak. Last session he had been publicly outed as Kora's husband, which caused a huge ruckus. Kora had fainted. King Varlur and Komas were pissed off. With the help of Telos and Ikuinen Lampo Sir Xellous had related what had happened to Kora. He managed to get permission from King Varlur to go to the junkyard planet with Ikuinen Lampo, Kora, and  Telos, to get a power source for Ikuinen Lampo to stay in her Epiphany Form.

Kora: Sir Xellous' wife. As a child she had been habitually raped her father, Altous, and impregnated by him. When she had a chance Kora killed him. She was then kidnapped by the khen-zai, her mind was wiped of all memories, and she was dropped outside of Broadnough, where she met and married Komas, the now-prime minister.

Genevieve: Sir Xellous' dead sister, former best friend and confidante of Kora. She died protecting the both of them from a flammeous lad. Ikuinen Lampo revived her body and has been using it to travel with Sir Xellous and Telos, with the permission of Genevieve's departed soul. 

Ikuinen Lampo: The star of Khouria, who had made Sir Xellous her celestial knight. She's been making moon eyes at Sir Xellous for awhile now. He's not really noticed.

Sir Xellous and Komas sat by Kora's side until she woke up. The instant she saw him she got up and stormed past them, out the door, and slammed it so hard that both men thought she would rattle it off its hinges. Sir Xellous walked after her, calling out to her as she stormed down the hall. He asked if she was OK.

Kora turned on her feet, purple in the face ("There's the Kora I know", muttered Sir Xellous, half admiringly) and he found that his blood had turned to ice water. Getting right in his face Kora began yelling. No, she was not alright. For three months - THREE MONTHS - Sir Xellous had the opportunity to tell her the truth. For three months she had come to talk with him as he was convalescent and he hadn't said anything. It made Kora sick just to think about it! What wasn't he telling her?? Was Gerard's his? Why had she been pregnant? WHAT HAPPENED??

Komas had stuck his head out, saw how angry Kora was, and tried sneak back in. But it was too late: Kora had seen him. Kora demanded to know what Sir Xellous had told him. Komas turned pale and tried to shut the door, but Kora yanked the door open and screamed so loudly that the halls seemed to tremble. Why did everyone know about where she came from but her?? Thoroughly purple and breathing in ragged gasps, Kora stalked off.

Komas and Sir Xellous stood there a moment. Komas asked why the hell Sir Xellous hadn't said anything over those three months.  Sir Xellous told him it was honestly because he couldn't figure out how to say it. He wanted to say something, but just couldn't figure out exactly what to say.

They didn't hear Kora coming back; she slammed Sir Xellous into a wall. She demanded to know if Gerard's was his. Gulping, Sir Xellous shook his head. Kora demanded of Komas if he knew that, during the time she was unconscious, if Sir Xellous had told him. Komas nodded. Then Kora asked if Ikuinen Lampo (referred to as star-slut) knew as well. Looking to her left, Kora saw Ikuinen Lampo standing there, Genevieve's face had gone pale. She had come down to check on Kora and was trying to figure out how to respond. Still calling her star-slut, Kora demanded if Ikuinen Lampo knew who the father of the Gerard was, since it wasn't Sir Xellous and it certainly couldn't be Komas. Ikuinen Lampo said she knew everything. Kora asked Sir Xellous if he had noticed that Ikuinen Lampo was in love with him, head over friggin' heels. Sir Xellous looked over at Lampo, but she didn't say anything. Disgusted, Kora stomped past Ikuinen Lampo.

Ikuinen Lampo finally found it within her to ask if she could talk with Sir Xellous, but he brushed her off; he needed time to process that information. Ikuinen Lampo was about to plead with him, but they heard a scream, opposite down the hall from where Kora had gone. Komas had vanished. Sir Xellous and Ikuinen Lampo ran down the hall, toward the screaming.

There was a flammeous lad, standing over a courtier.

Sir Xellous and Ikuinen Lampo were shocked. It took effort to summon a flammeous lad, what the hell was one doing here?

Sir Xellous began to rip bits off of his shirt, to make wraps for his hands, to deal with the flames. He told Ikuinen Lampo to run back to their infirmary, grab Pyra, and get it to Kora. Ikuinen Lampo asked if that was a good idea, given that Kora probably didn't remember how to work it. Sir Xellous snapped at her that he was sure, and that she needed to get moving now; she started running. The flammeous lad turned to face him, giggling and contorting as the flames that powered it flickered. Sir Xellous still had his Behemoth armbands on; he was confident he could take the flammeous lad. He grabbed and slammed it, headfirst, into the stone floor, as hard as he could. Something inside of him snapped, and he began to pound the flammeous lad into the stone floor, over and over again, until it cracked open in a conflagration of sparks and flame. The courtier had run away.

Sir Xellous stopped to take a breath. He stooped down, and looked at the remains of the flammeous lad. He could use it in enchanting. Gingerly, he began to stash bits of the lad into his cloak.

He could hear Ikuinen Lampo and Kora screaming, down the hall.

Sir Xellous ran as fast as he could, pieces still stowed. They were on opposite sides of the hall, huddled into fetal positions, with a flammeous lad apiece standing over them. Reaching into the aura of one the flammeous lads, Sir Xellous focused all its rage upon its companion, and a new fight broke out. Sir Xellous barked at the women that they needed to get over to him, right now. They didn't need to be told twice. Hand in hand, all three ran at breakneck speed away from the two flammeous lads. Sir Xellous asked Ikuinen Lampo if she had gotten Pyra to Kora. Lampo told him that they hadn't gotten that far yet. Kora asked what Pyra was. Sir Xellous told her it was the impossibly awesome bow he had made her at a low point in her life. It was stolen by her brother, Michael, as a revenant to kill her with.

Kora stopped running. Sir Xellous tried to get her to go on, but Ikuinen Lampo told him she had been informed by Tooma Toahoya that all the flammeous lads in the area had vanished, teleported out by an unknown force.

Ernzen came running up to the trio. He told them that King Varlur was dead.

An overwhelming number of flammeous lads had attacked the great hall, where King Varlur was. He had died in the fighting. Sir Xellous started to move to the aid of the court, but Ernzen slowed him down.  he had overheard their conversation and wanted that to continue. Broadnough was his area, and he needed to take charge of it. Taking her gently by the shoulders Ernzen apologized for everything he had done. She raised an eyebrow at him, but Ernzen told her she would understand soon enough. He left to report to Komas, who was the temporary leader of the nation. So did Ikuinen Lampo.

Sir Xellous and Kora sat down. She asked about Pyra. Sir Xellous started at the beginning. He told her about how they had known each other since they were children, running into their first flammeous lad, how she had killed her father Altous, and how Sir Xellous had found out about Kora's years of molestation at the hands of her father.

They had to stop and take a moment for that.

They then talked about Sir Xellous becoming a celestial knight and Telos' release, with Kora giggling at the thought of Telos coming up out of the ground, like some sort of righteous monster. They talked about the Behemoth's coming and how Kora had killed it, not him. Kora remarked dryly that she figured Sir Xellous didn't have the stomach for such business, and they both laughed. Swallowing, Sir Xellous told Kora about her mother and how the drowning of her eldest brother, Charles, had been the start of it all.

Kora needed a moment for that too. Well, longer than that, honestly.

Sir Xellous told her about how she had been kidnapped, and how he had spent the next few months trying to get strong enough to go and fight the khen-zai so he could get her back... only to find her here. He explained what had happened to Michael, and how sorry he was that Michael had died the way he had. They mourned it, together.

Kora said she didn't remember of it. She had no idea how she could have told that to anyone, either. She asked Sir Xellous how the heck he hadn't noticed that Ikuinen Lampo was in love with him. Sir Xellous responded that he only had eyes for Kora, and that was always going to be true. He didn't notice because it hadn't been relevant to the task at hand. Kora laughed, saying he was an idiot. Sir Xellous told her that he had always relied upon her for help with the social stuff, that if he had it his way he'd be back at their barn, making some newly enchanted item. Kora said she sounded like a huge nerd, and Sir Xellous remarked that he didn't really know what he was anymore.

Kora said she wanted to see her mother, regardless of whether she remembered or not. The elves were coming the next day to take them to that planet they were talking about. But before they left Kora insisted on seeing her mom. Sir Xellous agreed.

They sat there awhile. There was still so much to do.

The next session of The Giggling Dark will happen sometime in January, thanks to the holidays and family visits and whatnot. Thank you for continuing to read, it means the world to me.