As they climbed back up, Dellia managed to dry her tears, recovering slightly. She asked a few questions about the situation- things Kin-Galud hadn’t bothered to fill her in on, like how Sionann and Fírinne had wound up serving a demon (Sionann answered for both of them, since Fírinne was lost in thought), whether there were any other converts (there weren't yet), whether Kin-Galud was the same demon they had been told killed Romulus (it was, but there was more to the story), and why they had chosen her (they needed an earth affinity, and she… uh, seemed like someone who would appreciate the opportunity). 

Dellia was not amused by the last answer, and stomped ahead angrily. Which was kind of adorable given her size, and also an improvement over depression.

The entire time, Fírinne had been silent. They were near the surface when Fírinne thought-asked Sionann a question. 

[What would you do if Kin-Galud destroyed me, and put a copy in my place?]

Sionann almost fell on her face, as her body seized up at the thought. 

[Don’t even think that! How would you feel if I asked you the same question?]

[That’s different], Fírinne thought bitterly. [I love you. You don’t love me, so it wouldn’t hurt you as much.]

They had reached the surface by this point. Sionann turned to face her, grabbing her by the shoulders and twisting her so their eyes could meet.

“Listen, I… don’t love you, but I need you, and not a copy of you. I want you by my side. Maybe that could become love someday, I don’t know. But even if it never does, you can’t leave me. You’re not allowed.”

Fírinne blinked some tears away. “Stupid elf”, she muttered. 

“Stupid human”, she replied, stroking her cheek. 

“u 2 r so sweet”, Dellia interjected. “but wat r we gonna do now?”

“Ah, first, I think I should formally apologise for not preparing you better.”

“ur apologisin 4 not drivin me crazy 1st?”

“Well, if you put it that way, I sound like a monster.”

“You kind of are. You killed fifteen people in one night.”

“Hey! It was seventeen. They found the other two eventually.”

“Oh, that makes it okay.”

Dellia held her head in her hands, hunched over. “dat was u!?”

“Oh, right. I forgot to mention it. Kin-Galud needed some souls.”

“n now im on ur side!?”

“Don’t worry, you won’t have to kill anyone. Probably.”

“probely!??”

 

Kin-Galud explained that Dellia wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about its existence, or any of their various secrets, nor try to do so in a roundabout way. She would agree to anything Kin-Galud ordered, no matter how much she hated it. 

It also conveyed to Dellia that it would always be willing to upgrade their connection to a willing one should she change her mind. It didn’t convey explicitly what was on offer, but the fact that Dellia was noticeably less shy now (without getting plastered) suggested she had already gained something in the bargain. 

 

They dealt with Dellia’s spirit. Objectively, it was a weaker spirit than Fírinne’s had been, but it was harder to subjugate- turns out a nature spirit was pretty strong inside a forest, who knew. The thing kept hiding in trees, and they didn’t want to call attention to themselves by starting a full-on forest fire to burn it out. 

But with Dellia’s reluctant assistance they were able to extract it from its sylvan shelters, and eventually wore it down to the point they were able to wrestle it through a gap in the barrier. 

Once on the other side, the spirit was released- and rapidly hid in a nearby tree. Kin-Galud did not immediately consume it, and they opted not to tell Dellia what would likely become of her former partner. She was having a hard enough time as it was.

 

With that out of the way, Kin-Galud revealed the first thing they needed Dellia for. It had converted the remnants of some of the consumed souls into ‘seeds’, resembling sticky lumps of black tar. These seeds could be used to infect living things with an eldritch corruption- mainly plants, since most animals (and all sapient beings) had minds strong enough to reject the speck of corruption before it could grow. 

In theory, one could just stick a seed to a plant, and let unnature take its course, but they were on a deadline. An earth affinity- and especially a nature affinity (earth and water)- could considerably accelerate the uptake. 

For now, they just had to infect a pine tree somewhere in the Fell Wood. Dellia was very apologetic to the tree they chose, but didn’t- couldn’t- hesitate as she forced the trunk to open and squished the pulsating seed inside. After she sealed the trunk shut, she forced the tree to nourish the seed, and created pathways for the corruption to spread. 

They spent the next hour sitting around while Dellia accelerated the pine tree’s corruption. Or, rather, they spent a few minutes sitting around, then fifty minutes with Fírinne rubbing Sionann’s ears and making out with her. The occasional glance that Dellia gave them, and the subsequent blushes… were kind of exciting. Even if Sionann knew Dellia was literally incapable of telling anyone else, it still felt like they were doing this ‘in public’. 

 

Dellia was, indeed, tight-lipped as they returned to Reme. Nobody found it odd, given how shy she normally was; similarly, the fact that she immediately retreated to her room after eating was par for the course. 

She was pretty quiet the next day too- again, normal behaviour. But it still made Sionann feel a bit guilty. So, when Dellia made to retreat to her room that evening, she instead found herself dragged to Sionann’s. Where Fírinne and a fresh jug of wine awaited. 

“What do you need now?”, Dellia asked with a resigned sigh.

“Nothing. We just wanted to hang out, like usual”, Sionann said, as Fírinne poured the wine (mixing it with water, obviously). 

“Why? I’m already under your control.”

“Okay, one, you’re not under our control, you're under KG’s control. Two, that doesn’t mean we can’t also be friends.”

“You forced me into becoming the slave of a demon, and you think I want to be your friend?”

“I do”, Sionann said, before taking a sip of wine. “What more do you have to lose?”

Dellia stared at her hatefully for a few seconds, then snatched up her cup and took a deep swig. 

“I won’t forgive you”, she muttered. Then she realised something. “Where did u get this wine? I thought it ran out?”

“Oh, I went out last night and stole it.”

Dellia stared at her cup for a few seconds, as if debating whether to refuse the stolen product… then groaned and finished it, before holding it out to Fírinne for a refill. 

 

“i luv wine. its so gud. not like u 2.”

“But we’re providing wine, doesn’t that make us good?”, Sionann posited. 

Dellia looked conflicted, giving the matter serious thought. “ur gud wen u give me wine, but ur bad other times”, she eventually concluded, satisfied that she had properly solved this complex moral quandary. 

“Nooo, Sionann is always good. So good. So tasty”, Fírinne countered, punctuating her argument by licking Sionann’s fingers.. 

“wait, ur tasty?”

“No, Fírinne is just very silly. She’s- hey, stop-”

Fírinne was by this point sucking on her fingers in a rather distracting manner, humming in pleasure as she did. She should probably pull her hand away… but maybe she could wait a bit longer. 

Unfortunately, Fírinne’s performance persuaded Dellia to grab her other hand, and before Sionann could stop her, take a lick. 

“u R tasty!”, Dellia exclaimed. “but if ur always tasty, ur always gud? y r u so confusin?”

Why, Sionann despaired, was her moral standing now rooted in how she tasted? What sins had she committed to deserve two people sucking on her fingers, preventing her from drinking more wine? 

…aside from seventeen murders, that is.