Lance and the others left his side, approaching the downed form of Tolak with Elum, Alistair, and Twindil. Were they going to try and seize those chains after all? The advantages of having them might prove beneficial to the squad… but it was risky to try and take something like that, what if it could spread the curse, or even worse, allow Kazon to directly control their minds? That would be sub-optimal to the completion of the mission. He thought of commanding them to leave the chains behind… but they were not his subordinates, if they desired to take the chains, he would allow them to try. Yet, if his worries came to fruition… well, if they became possessed then he would do what needed to be done.

Then everyone would move on.

Turning his attention away from those dire thoughts, he tilted his helmet toward Kid’ka and asked, “Halm is the Tongue of Zodd? What does that entail?”

“The Mouth of Zodd is supposed to be our contact with Zodd himself,” Kid’ka explained, “A chunk of his very Tongue is grafted to their flesh, usually within their chests.”

That would explain the tumorous growth Hoplite had seen protruding from Halm’s chest. A piece of a Pillar God’s tongue… How would inserting something like that provide a means to communicate with Zodd? He asked Kid’ka this very question, to which the man simply shrugged in response.

“I dunno. Pillar magic?” Kid’ka asked, “I’m not’nt too sure- wait I meant uh-” He stuttered, “I meant not too sure, sorry.”

“Man,” Michael sighed, “Fella, you seriously gotta relax. I think ya’d be better at talkin’ if you weren’t so stressed out.”

“I’m n-not stressed.” Kid’ka replied, “I’m completely clam- calm.” He corrected.

“Then what’s yer issue? Are ya tweaking?” Michael asked, brow quirked.

Hoplite’s brow furrowed at the term ‘tweaking’. Did he mean that as in ‘adjustment’? What was Kid’ka tweaking exactly, his speech? Kid’ka didn’t seem to know what the term meant either, for his face scrunched up in apparent perplexion.

“Nevermind. Just do you man.” Michael said with an urging gesture.

“Alrighty then.” Kid’ka replied, “The Tongue in Halm apparently hasn’t completed its transfig-transformansion-Transformation.” He struggled.

“What would it transform into exactly?” Hoplite asked, “An extra organ?”

“N-no, apparently it will become some kind of jewelry that the Mouth can wear, but Ham- Halm, has had it for over two-hundred years and it still hasn’t changed…” He said, his tone almost becoming wistful, “I think it might have something to do with the curse.”

Hoplite nodded, “That makes sense, but if that’s true there’ll never be a Mouth again, not unless it’s removed.”

“Yes.” Kid’ka said, firming his features, “I’ll talk to him about it the next time I see him.”

“Affirmative.” He said, his attention drawn away to a sudden shout.

Elum had apparently shrugged away from Twindil, and was looking seriously angered. Was he going to become aggressive? Was Kazon’s influence piercing through Twindil’s aura? Maybe not, she did say that her aura would only cancel out Kazon’s magic, not that it would suppress normal emotions. His finger twitched toward the Fortis attached to his thigh-plate, a movement that only he himself was aware of. If Elum lashed out then Hoplite would have to shoot to kill, he had no non-lethal options at this range.

If Elum wasn’t so dangerous he wouldn’t have considered killing him, but his magic could kill all those immediately surrounding him well before anything could be done about it. There was a chance that he could be brought back to sanity if he could be restrained… but again, that would require serious risk to those adjacent to Elum. He wouldn’t let Lance die like that.

Nolvi wasn’t far behind her, she could potentially incapacitate Elum as well, but again there was the risk that she wouldn’t be fast enough to react.

Thankfully though, his worries seemed to be unfounded, for Elum soon eased up and began to banter with Alistair. From what Hoplite could hear, he hadn’t wanted his gray arm to be touched. Was it sensitive?

“What are they talking about sir?” Michael asked, biting his cheek.

“Elum didn’t want his arm being touched.” Hoplite told him, “And now he and Alistair are acting unprofessional.”

Michael grimaced, “I don’t blame the guy, I wouldn’t wanna touch that thing either. Should probably just cut the whole dang thing off, I think it's spreading.”

“You can hear that far Hoplite?” Kid’ka asked, “I can barely even ear- sorry, hear them, much less understand what they’re saying.”

“My ears are enhanced by bionics.” Hoplite replied.

“Is that some kind of magic from your world?” He asked, “How do you cast bionics?”

“Naw man,” Michael laughed, “It ain’t magic it’s uh…” He hesitated, “It’s robot stuff.”

Kid’ka merely stared blankly in reply, and didn’t say anything. Was he trying to make out what the term ‘robot’ meant?

“Hmm, alright, he’s got special metal in his ears what lets him hear better.” Michael said with a firm nod, “Get it?”

“Oh yeah,” Kid’ka said, nodding back, “That makes sense, so magic metal.”

“...Yeah.” Michael replied with a sigh.

“Think of it more like living metal.” Hoplite said, “Rather than magical. There is no magic in our dimension.”

“Living metal?” Kid’ka said in a clearly confused tone, “No magic in your world? How can metal be alive if you have no magic? It dont’nt make- it doesn’t make sense!” He shouted suddenly, apparently frustrated.

“Magic don’t make sense!” Michael shouted back.

Hoplite ignored their pointless argument, instead turning his attention back to what Lance and the others were doing. Alistair just set down the chains, apparently they had decided not to ‘bond’ with him. Having listened into their conversation from this distance, he surmised that the item had a particular type of person it would ‘desire’. A very strange process to say the least… but his time on Ahkoolis has eroded his will to question such occurrences. He was unsure if he should be concerned about this or not, but before he could decide, he saw Lance move over to the chains.

He almost ran over there to pull her away from them, but he felt that would be an unwise decision, for some reason. Twindil did say that they wouldn’t transfer the curse, and Alistair’s earlier claims corroborated this. Should he really allow Lance to take this risk though? What if Alistair and Twindil were wrong and Lance became infected? A pit then formed in his gut, worry eating down the back of his neck as emptiness began to fill him. He clenched his teeth and forced the pointless feelings from his mind as Lance finally lifted the chains, wrapping them around her forearms before lifting them into the air. Sunset bathed her dark form in an orange hue, the contrast nearly making her appear as a black pillar in the light.

A few moments passed, with nothing seeming to happen while Lance stood there with the chains, her back to him. Eventually, she leaned down, trying to put the chains back to the stone… but after a few shakes, it was clear that the metal links refused to be put back down. They had chosen their new master. Hoplite darted over as fast as he could, the cascade of his rapidly approaching footsteps causing Lance and the others nearby to jump in shock.

“Are you alright?” Hoplite asked quickly, “Do you feel any symptoms, it hasn’t been a full minute yet, we can still get them removed.”

He had closed the distance between them by only a few seconds… perhaps his sudden appearance by their side was what shocked them so?

“By the Pillars!” She shouted, nearly falling on her rear as he came upon her, “Calm yourself, I feel fine!”

The length of the chains stretched all the way to Tolak’s arms, which seemed to be detaching themselves from the fallen Fiends limbs as they snaked their way toward Lance. His hand lashed out to seize them before they could fully wrap around her, but they evaded his grasp, their speed not at all diminished by Tolak’s death.

“I’m fine! Let them be!” Lance shouted, slapping at his shoulder plate, “Really, I’m okay!”

He hesitated for a brief instant before complying with her request. Her skin wasn’t purpling, spirals weren’t etching themselves into her flesh… it seemed as if all would be well. Yet this urge still persisted within him, he desired to remove these chains before they could fully attach to her. It wasn’t because he wanted them for himself, that was for sure. Was he overreacting, and if so, why?

He eased back, letting Lance stand to her feet as the chains continued to snake their way to her, rising and wrapping around her forearms in thick bundles. He held himself at the ready to remove them the instant Lance showed any symptoms of turning, but none came, at least, none that were obvious. Eventually, the chains completed their wrapping, completely coiled up around her forearms, leaving no slack. She held them close to her face, pursing her lips and scrunching her brow.

“You don’t look glad.” Hoplite pointed out.

“I…” She started, “I’m just worried about why they chose me.”

“Well,” Twindil said, “It doesn’t really matter, they’re yours now. All that matters is what you intend to do with them. Are you planning to do evil?” She asked, putting her hands on her hips as she stared at Lance. When she didn’t get an answer, she continued, “I thought not. You certainly don’t seem the type.”

“I just wanted-” She hesitated, the words dying on her tongue, “I wanted to keep myself safe.”

Those green eyes of hers shifted nervously as she said that… wait, could it be possible that she had just lied?

Twindil nodded, “That could be it, self-preservation perhaps, it's sensible, not something to feel guilty over. Don’t think too hard on it or you may have a hard time sleeping-” Twindil stopped herself, “Uh, I guess I mean next week, when you do actually have to sleep.”

“I’ll be fresh for a long while yet,” Lance said with a mirthless laugh, “I simply need to process this and… well, I suppose I should take the time to learn how to use these.” She said, lifting her arms to display them. “By the Pillars they’re heavy.”

“Just because they’re magic doesn’t mean they’ll be light as a feather.” Twindil said, “You can probably mitigate it by unfurling them, they seem to be able to handle their own weight.”

“I’m just imagining how inconvenient these are going to make basic tasks.” She said, “Climbing is going to be harder, hiding will be harder, everything’s going to be more difficult.”

“But you’ll be more optimal for use on the field.” Hoplite stated, “They’re fast enough to block bullets, they should keep you relatively safe from now on.”

“That’s right.” Lance said flatly, “Taking that into account, I don’t want you telling me that I won’t be useful ever again.”

He blinked, that wasn’t what he had said. He had just stated the clear fact that she wasn’t needed for the conflict, that she wouldn’t have changed anything. All she would have done was hinder him had she joined him in the fight against Tolak, and it was more than likely that she’d have been cursed or killed. The others had all gathered around by now, all save for Baomiel and Theopalu of course. Should he clarify what he had actually said to her? It didn’t seem like that would cause friction, he hadn’t said she was useless.

“That isn’t what I told you.” He said in his monotone, “I said that you wouldn’t have changed anything, because you wouldn’t have.”

Suddenly, everything fell silent. Twindil held a closed fist to her mouth, staring wide eyed at both he and Lance. Elum and Alistair both sucked air through their teeth, breaking the silence for a brief instant while Kid’ka put a hand over his eyes. Nolvi, as always, didn’t seem to react one way or another. Michael though, blew air out of his lips and shook his head, a tight grimace forming on his face. It appeared that had been the wrong thing to say… but how? It was the truth! He felt the heat of frustration beginning to creep up his neck before he forced it back down, steadying his breath as he did so.

Lance didn’t say anything, simply pivoting on her heels and walking away, back towards the rest-stop. He blinked in surprise at this. He’d expected biting retorts and shouting, not this. The silence continued until Lance finally disappeared into the tunnel, completely out of earshot.

“Sir.” Michael said, “Permission to speak freely?”

“...Granted.” He said after a moment.

“Alrighty then…” He said before taking a deep breath, “You hurt her feelings sir.”

Hurt her feelings? How in Jyn’s name did he hurt her feelings? It had been the simple truth he’d given her, why did that make her so angry?

Frustration began bubbling up again, the heat seeming to build up in his face, yearning for a release, but before he could shove it back down and reign it in with cold discipline, Twindil said in a tone bordering on scolding, “You really need to learn to watch what you say, could you not have worded that more nicely?”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.” Hoplite said sharply, letting the fires of his frustration free, his helmet quickly tilting in her direction.

“I suppose you didn’t. Good day.” Twindil replied flatly before she too took her leave, heading straight towards the rest-stop.

Everyone else, save for Michael, followed after her, not turning to look at him as they went. The frustration continued to build as he watched them walk away, unsure as to how to proceed. Michael, strangely enough, looked increasingly uncomfortable, his feet shifting as his eyes apparently found something interesting in the sky. Even his own subordinate seemed to be wishing to be elsewhere, and this too added to the anger Hoplite felt. Yet, now that there was this moment of silence, he took that time to reign in his useless emotions.

Once the heat of his anger cooled, he said, “Go with them private. I’m going to keep watch for a while.”

“...You sure, sir?” Michael asked, “We could talk some more about uh, what just happened. If you want.”

“Negative.” Hoplite replied.

He needed time alone to think about what had just happened, and Michael shouldn’t stay out here as the sunlight receded. The others would be lighting up the interior of the rest-stop and he had his flashlight to keep the dark at bay.

“Copy that sir.” Michael replied, promptly jogging over to the tunnel right as Twindil entered.

Once they were all out of sight, Hoplite’s head hung back, staring at the orange sky as he thought. He hadn’t expected her to react that way… Yelling maybe, but complete and utter silence?

For some strange reason, it unsettled him.