A few hours later, Kaldalis’s head was still spinning in the wake of the absurdity of what followed Demriv’s dramatic entrance. As soon as Demriv had entered, Onirioago immediately changed her tune, playing the innocent damsel to make the actions of the Cotanaku council seem all that much worse.

At the very least, Demriv didn’t seem to be entirely fooled by Onirioago’s act, though she was obviously disinclined to discourage her, as the obvious discomfort of the Cotanaku Council was to her benefit in this situation. Garyung was on the back foot from the start, and it seemed like Demriv could make just about any demand she wanted and Cotanaku was forced to acquiesce. Or, at the very least, all the compromises were in Panbu’s favor

As soon as Kaldalis tried to object to the downplayed description of Onirioago’s crimes, Demriv’s withering glare was enough that Garyung kicked Kaldalis and his friends out of the room.

It wasn’t until Demriv left - with Onirioago and Gavinkim in tow - that he was called back into the council chambers.

What followed wasn’t any less of a mess than what preceded. Demriv’s compromise meant that she was in Cotanaku’s custody with Gavinkim on guard duty. At Demriv’s insistence, she was being transported back to Baimer for a proper trial. But that meant that Kaldalis was being sent back as well, as he was the star witness.

Garyung was going to Baimer as well. Ostensibly, it was to begin negotiations to be peacefully absorbed into the Kingdom of Zara, to try and minimize the cost on behalf of both nations, but Kaldalis could read between the lines: he was going to face the music for his mistake, whatever form that ended up taking.

The whole thing seemed to whirl by him so fast that he didn’t get to raise any of his own concerns before the Council declared the meeting over and went to work arranging for the transport. Demriv had insisted they use Big Mike’s ship instead of waiting for the maiden voyage of the Persimmon 2, which wouldn’t be done building for another few weeks. That had seemed unreasonably fast by Kaldalis’s estimation, but he supposed game systems would help speed things along.

Kaldalis didn’t get to properly address what he thought were the biggest issues. No one wanted to talk about Onirioago respawning. Or the tablet fragment she had that might have let them replicate the effect. No one even mentioned the horrifying War Weapon Kaldalis had tucked into his inventory, either.

He wanted to bring the topics up, but he was afraid to start when the council might have suffered some discussion about those topics when Demriv was here. Instead, the meeting was brought to a rapid close and he was ushered out through the town hall’s front door - which Demriv had smashed to splinters on her way in.

And so he had a morning appointment to get on the ship and travel back to Baimer. It would only be a few days’ travel; now that Cotanaku was an established town they enjoyed the gamified benefits of a trade route to reduce the transit time. All his friends had also agreed to come, too, so that he would have the backup he needed to deal with any calamities Onirioago might create.

He considered trying to see if he could get Heluna on the crew so that he could have at least one sailor on the boat he could trust, but her safety was more important to him than his own.

Also it seemed prudent to keep her as physically far away from Onirioago as possible, now that the vicious Vathon knew about his relationship with the foul-mouthed Finnian.

Before leaving, though, he had a promise to keep. Kaldalis met up with Heluna for the dinner date he owed her. He even pulled Balrim into it, having the Talsar make use of his cooking skill to provide them with a finer dinner than either of them had enjoyed since arriving in Cotanaku. Kaldalis knew that it couldn’t be chicken, but it tasted just like it, seared and then cooked in a cream sauce with sun-dried tomatoes and herbs. They enjoyed the flavor of it, and Kaldalis ignored that it gave a temporary Light Affinity boost.

Over dinner - in the same quiet back corner of the sailors’ mess tent - he told her most of the story of what had happened. And afterwards - once they were a safe distance up the beach from any eavesdroppers - he told her the more sensitive parts. He knew he could trust her to keep his secrets.

“You are telling me that you have a fucking War Weapon?” Heluna hissed at him in shock, uncharacteristically enunciating every syllable.

“I would have thought Onirioago apparently being immortal now would be more concerning,” Kaldalis said, giving her a smirk.

“That bitch is capable of anything,” Heluna said with a dismissive gesture. “I’d have been more surprised if death could actually stop her ass from being a problem. But a War Weapon? That’s big fuckin’ shit. I don’t have words for how terrifying that is.”

“I’m sorry,” Kaldalis said, stepping back a little with a grimace. “Does that make you uncomfortable?”

“No, no, hun. Not at all.” Heluna laughed, stepping in close to him, resting a hand carefully on his arm. “I think you’re the only man on the damn planet I’d trust with one of those. No doubt at all you’re the only one of your sort I’d trust with one.”

Kaldalis managed not to flinch at the mention of him being a player character.

“But having a War Weapon is going to make it dangerous for you,” she continued. “If someone knows you have one - someone who doesn’t know you like I do - they might think it appropriate to try and relieve you of it. By force.”

“I better be extra careful, then,” Kaldalis said, letting his left arm find its way around her waist as he reached up to brush the backs of his fingers across her cheek. “Because nobody knows me like you do.”

“I’m serious,” Heluna said, though she was blushing and leaning into his touch. The predominant emotion in her eyes was still concern, so he knew she wasn’t just playing. “Nobody can know you have it.”

“I didn’t intend to go around bragging about it,” Kaldalis said. His primary concern was to reassure her, but honesty was more important. “Gavinkim saw me grab it, but he seems like a pretty tight-lipped guy. Or, at least, he’s always in earshot of Onirioago and no matter what he thinks of me, he won’t want her to know that I have it. Maybe he wants her to think he’s got it, in case she thinks of escape again.”

Heluna grimaced. “I don’t like this,” she said after a moment.

She’d said it before. As soon as he told her about his trip to Baimer for Onirioago’s trial, she’d bristled at the idea, as if he’d just suggested walking back to the Jormongumo settlement blindfolded.

“I have to,” Kaldalis said, reaching down and taking Heluna’s hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. “I can’t describe to you all the horrible things I would submit to before I’d allow Onirioago to go free. If she’s not in a cell, she’s going to be coming for me. I have an obligation to make sure the trial has all the evidence they need. If I’m not there, she might wiggle out of it. And even if the trial is rigged and Demriv gets her out, I’d want to be there. If there’s not a global warning message when they take the shackles off of her, I wouldn’t know she was coming until her trap was already closed around me.”

Heluna pursed her lips, scowling at him for a minute. “I know you have to,” she said at last. “But that doesn’t fuckin’ mean I gotta like it.”

“I don’t like it any more than you do,” Kaldalis agreed. “But I promise, as long as you’re here, I’ll do everything in my power to come back to you.”

“Kal,” Heluna said with a smirk. “If you don’t watch your big fuckin’ mouth, I might start getting the idea you have some kinda feelings for my dumb ass.”

“I won’t allow such slander,” Kaldalis said, pulling her close and letting his left hand trail down over her lower back. “There’s plenty of adjectives I’d apply to your ass, but dumb would not be one of them.”

Out on the privacy of the beach, they enjoyed a few intimate moments, knowing that in the morning, Kaldalis would be on a ship leaving Cotanaku for a while. When things began to heat up, Kaldalis mentally drew the line he wouldn’t be comfortable crossing yet with her, in the wake of everything he’d been through. But Heluna was so calm and patient with him, she never drew close enough to it that he had to stop her.

When they got back to Cotanaku, Heluna hesitated. He could tell she wanted to ask him to come to bed with her, and he was honestly not sure if he would say no if she did. As much as he worried about his mental state, he didn’t want to lose her by keeping her waiting. She just seemed perfect.

But her restraint won out over his worries.

If it could be called restrained to kiss him so hard his head spun before retreating to her quarters with a laugh before he could catch his breath.

It was almost pleasant enough that he didn’t spend all night staring at the ceiling terrified of the trip he was taking in the morning.

Almost.