Conscious, Conscientious

When Credo Covewalk's stare turned to them, Deon couldn't help but freeze as well.

The Leader of the entire League? Deon repeated. And he's here?

His mind raced with questions he couldn't answer himself.

Why?

If he's here, then does that mean he knows what happened?

Does he know we trespassed somewhere pros aren't allowed to go?

Does he know why?

There was only one certainty he could grasp when Credo's eyes lingered on them all and he gave them a simple nod.

We're screwed.

At this point, he had to accept expulsion from the Consciousness League. After all, Hiroko and Kotono had warned them it was possible if they got caught.

Still, he regretted nothing: it was more than worth what he'd saved.

But he wasn't sure what kinds of other punishments or setbacks the League could cause over this. If it hindered their ability to find Pang, this could prove devastating.

They had to rescue her. Fast.

He wasn't about to lose her to Proscious, too.

The women guiding them turned and signaled to keep following, so Deon and the others caught back up. Credo's face disappeared as they joined the beginning point of the hushed crowd.

Lammy kept his eyes on the ground before him. He could feel the curious gazes of all the Hidakalans they passed. The dragons stopped at the outskirts, but for some reason the guides ushered the rest of them closer and closer to the triangular fire pit.

Soon they ended up at one of the very front rows, off to the side. After they were positioned into a single file, Lammy found himself right next to someone he hadn't been walking with.

Finally mustering up the courage, he looked up to find Zayza greeting him with a weak smile, now wearing a Hidakalan dress. Layla and Kotono stood on her opposite end.

Lammy felt a hand land on his shoulder. Deon stood beside him, letting out a tense sigh, with Skrili and Phillip on the other side.

It seemed they'd arrived just in time: a man approached the pit and lowered a blazing stick into it. The ritual began.

Minutes passed as everyone watched the flames spread across the sticks and brush, embers forming underneath. Nobody spoke. The only sounds were the increasing crackles and sizzles, until sniffs and muffled sobs from the crowd gradually joined into the chorus.

Lammy glanced up at Zayza again. Her eyes were on the ground before the fire, deep in thought. Somehow, she hadn't yet shed a tear.

And just past her, he saw Kotono. She hadn't cried since the moment Hiroko vanished before her, and that remained true even now.

But her lack of tears was different.

Her expression, her entire being, was hollow.

Her eyes were far too tired, too dead, to cry.

As her dry gaze rested unblinkingly on the rising flames, their light beginning to reflect against her under the slowly declining sunlight, Lammy realized he was looking at a vacant shell.

It was a sight infinitely more uncomfortable than the weeping Hidakalans around them.

The flames rose higher, and Lammy noticed a man had been crouching near it on the far side. He held some sort of long tool, which propped two bowls up directly within the fire.

Behind him, another figure emerged from somewhere within the village. His face entering the light, he proved to be an elderly man in dragging purple and black rags.

Lammy could tell his skin had originally been the same complexion as the other Hidakalans, but now that was barely the case: white triangle markings covered nearly all his exposed body on his arms, legs, feet, and hairless head. He walked with a swirling staff bearing similar carved symbols as he slowly neared the crowd.

When he reached the front corner of the flames and came to a stop, the community attempted to hush their weeping. A little girl loudly asked her mother what was wrong.

The younger man with the tool stirred. Removing the bowls from the fire, he joined his elder. In one simultaneous motion, he placed the bowls on the ground before the older man's toes and lowered himself to his hands and knees. Bowing deep, he brought his forehead to the sand.

In response, the elder shrunk to the sand just the same. Shuffling of clothes joined the fire's chorus, and Lammy realized all the Hidakalans were bowing, too. An obvious beat behind, he and his Consciousness companions joined in.

The sand no longer felt scorching, mirroring the declining sun's heat as Lammy pressed his forehead against it. He could have sworn he sensed a tremor deep underneath.

For a moment, it made the ground seem infinite.

Once again following the clan's lead, Lammy stood with his friends. They found the elder had already returned to his feet, but his gaze remained fixed on the sand.

The younger man rose with one of the bowls in hand.

"Hirokyauta Hidakalhalimat," he projected, met with a sudden sob from the row across from Lammy's.

After he spoke, the man reached his finger into the bowl and stepped even closer to his elder. When he removed it, Lammy finally noticed how long the nail on his pointer finger was. It was filed to a point, and its tip was now drenched in a steaming pure white substance.

The elder didn't flinch, or even blink, as his counterpart raised his fingernail towards his head. Steadily, the younger man painted another white triangle onto him in the limited space by his temple. Steam rose from his skin.

"Hirokyauta Hidakalhalimat."

This time, the elder had spoken.

Zayza leaned close to Lammy.

"Hiroko's real name," she whispered. "Her management shortened her fighting name to something more familiar."

Lammy's eyebrows rose.

And she had no problem with that? he wondered.

Once more, the crowd joined the elder in a cohesive bow. Lammy touched his head onto the sand until he heard everyone around him stand back up.

The elder finally broke his stare from the ground. His eyes combed over the crowd, his face unchanging and unreadable.

At last, he spoke again.

"I will not pretend to fathom the will of the Gods below," he said. "A mere man, I cannot decipher their perfect minds in the moments they create us. These limits apply to us all."

He briefly scanned the crowd again in a pause.

"But I can observe a mortal life. And from that, I can glimpse traces of meaning," he shared. "Hirokyauta always deviated–even since the day she was born."

Lammy stiffened.

Deviated? Isn't this ritual meant to honor her?

"The rainy day her parents brought her into this world, I remember clearly, she didn't shed a tear," continued the elder. "Then growing up a girl–inclined to learn and serve the roles of a woman, as in the traditions bestowed by the Gods, instead, little Hirokyauta strengthened her body. She wanted to hunt and fight with the men."

The elder's grip tightened on his staff.

"Only after she fought to provide for us in our darkest age, only after she rescued fellow warriors and witnessed the deaths of many others, did we finally begin to acknowledge her blessing to this clan," he said. "Now, I mourn because it is too late to see: Hirokyauta has always deviated. But that is what she was born to do."

He stepped forward, prompting his assistant to shuffle out of the way.

"She came into this world to teach us," he proclaimed. "Our land was dying. She left Hidakala to find a remedy on the Outside, defying our ways. And our response? We denounced her as a Hidakalan warrior."

Some villagers shifted uneasily.

"So she accepted a new name, setting aside her clan identity just as we rejected her. But still…she never forgot us. She never forgot her mission," he said. "We rejected Hirokyauta's attempts at financial support from the Outside, and labeled it as sinful. We rejected her donations of food. We rejected ourselves all the way into self-exile. And yet…"

He sunk his staff deeper into the sand, and without turning to look, raised his hand out behind himself. Lammy followed its angle, which pointed through the fire towards the brand new lake.

The elder's voice shook and broke up. Tears flooded over his triangle markings.

"Hirokyauta's life, her actions, were the mercy of the Gods on us all," he declared. "She brought us home."

He allowed his words to linger in the dry air.

"She was even the Gods' mercy for the Outside…to many who knew her as 'Hiroko,'" he added.

Lammy and the others straightened up when the elder turned his teary attention to them.

"...even to the point of forgoing a Holy Death on this sand, so that others could keep living."

More weeps broke out throughout the crowd. Evidently a 'Holy Death' was something vital to this clan, as few attempted to calm themselves this time.

But it was Layla's choking tears on the other side of Zayza that incited Lammy's own. She hid her face in Zayza's embrace, her shoulders shaking as she dropped her Queenly composure.

Lammy clutched his chest, and Deon's hand lightly squeezed his shoulder.

They both gazed into the fire. Just like the Hidakalans, they knew none of them would still be here if not for Hiroko.

And right now, they felt it all.

The elder lifted his staff, and then sunk it even deeper into the sand. He kneeled, his head downward as if the ground was his new audience.

"You taught us just how far forgiveness can reach," he uttered, but Lammy doubted anyone past his own row could hear it.

Then the elder stood tall again, his eyes closed.

"Hirokyauta Hidakalhalimat," his voice reverberated, "you have fulfilled your purpose."

He reopened his eyes, and though his continued words were equally impassioned, from this point on they sounded much more rehearsed.

"Hirokyauta passed before becoming betrothed or engaged, and so she leaves no male companion behind to receive the first triangle," he announced.

Lammy's focus couldn't help but turn to Kotono. She remained staring into the fire, lost in unknown thoughts.

He clenched his fists and tried not to shake his head.

It should be her.

Even if he had the courage to speak up, he knew it wouldn't do any good. Only he and Zayza knew of their relationship. And Hiroko made it clear that her clan wouldn't approve of them being together.

But still, especially now, Kotono deserved that acknowledgement.

It just…isn't fair.

"We now move to the next highest honor: the–"

"Wait."

The voice came from the row facing Lammy's from across the crowd: the next nearest section to the fire.

Four individuals stood solemnly, but one had taken a step forward. Lammy could immediately tell these were Hiroko's family members: two parents, a tall, toned young man, and an elderly woman. All but her father shared her same slim eyes, while her default hard expression unmistakably came from her father.

It was the mother who had stepped forward to halt the proceedings, her hand reaching forward. She was nodding subtly to herself, as if still contemplating the words of the elder's speech.

"Wait," she repeated, her voice scratchy like her daughter's. "I'm realizing…I assigned Kotono to the wrong position."

At last, Kotono stirred from her cold trance. Her head turned to Hiroko's mother, her eyes darting in uncertainty.

Hiroko's mother beckoned. "Come forward, love. It's alright."

Behind her, Hiroko's family all exchanged glances. The young man's eyes widened as he seemed to catch on.

Stepping forward, he approached Kotono and took her hand softly. She followed his guidance towards the elder, still in a hesitant haze.

They came to a soft stop.

"Hirokyauta's love," the young man introduced. His utterance came out confidently, but following a prolonged silence from the elder, his face turned as if to prepare for rebuke.

The village fell even more silent than before.

But at last, the elder gave a single, slow nod.

"And who from Hirokyauta's family will provide the sacred marking?"

The young man looked to his family. Hiroko's mother nodded to him.

"I will," he confirmed.

Lammy watched Hiroko's mother as the elder and his assistant repositioned Kotono and the young man to face the crowd.

Then…I guess she knew this whole time? Or maybe she just had a feeling, he learned.

He remembered his Aunt Meiv's knack for detecting whenever Deon had a new girlfriend days before he planned on mentioning it.

Moms can have that weird sense, he noted.

As he watched the ritual resume, for the first time since they arrived, his heart warmed.

In spite of himself, Lammy winced: the young man reached his finger into one of the still-steaming bowls. Without a long nail like the other man, the black liquid he retrieved was likely burning the flesh on the tip of his finger. But he held strong as he brought it close to Kotono's face.

Then with careful precision, he traced a triangle onto her cheek, starting just below her grimacing eye. It was much larger than the one Lammy remembered on Hiroko's face, nearly reaching her jawline.

In the moments that passed as the young man filled in its black shade onto her skin, Kotono's chin increasingly quivered. Her eyebrows furrowing, she struggled not to move.

It wasn't from the physical pain.

"Hirokyauta's love, Kotono," the elder called out once the process was complete.

Kotono crumbled onto the sand and let out a broken wail. Blue energy sparked out from her body all at once, a ray of it shooting endlessly into the sky like a beacon. Her whole body shook as, finally, the numbness of shock subsided, and the pained cries buried within came to the surface of reality.

Through Lammy's own tears, she became a foggy, glistening glare.

Zayza stumbled forward and fell onto Kotono in an embrace. Kotono's hands found hers, and her cries poured out longer.

The elder allowed a moment for the wave of emotions. Soon, he gently proceeded.

"We will now move to the next highest honor: the warriors who fought alongside Hirokyauta in her final battle. Together with her, they fought to rescue and protect, and so they will each receive the marking of a Guardian."

Lammy and Deon exchanged glances, and then looked out into the crowd of admiring eyes.

Wait…we're getting triangles, too? Lammy realized.

When the elder signaled them forward, Layla, Skrili, and Phillip moved without hesitation. Lammy's heart skipped when he noticed the same quiet spark, the same acceptance in all of their demeanors.

Deon patted him on the back. With an encouraging nod, he guided him forward with them.

Lammy's mind shifted.

Of course…of course we're getting those markings, he resolved. And I'll wear it proudly. For Hiroko.

The title the elder bestowed on them rang in his head again:

'Guardian.'

The sting burned much more sharply than Lammy could have predicted. But he didn't wince when the man's nail drew the small triangle permanently into the skin just beneath his left eye.

It was in the same position as the one on Hiroko's cheek.

One by one, he and all his companions accepted the black triangle. When prompted, Zayza had risen from Kotono to receive hers.

The elder learned and proclaimed each of their names as soon as each marking was complete.

"Princess Zayza."

"Queen Layla."

"Skrili."

"Deon."

"Lammy."

"Phillip."

They faced the clan of Hidakala for a moment together, the fire comforting their backs.

Then the ritual continued on. Family members received large triangles in different positions, and then other village members followed.

But as the remainder of the ritual played out before Lammy, a single observation occupied his mind.

All of the Hidakalans, even small children, wore varying amounts of these triangle tattoos.

But none of them had as many of them on their body as Hiroko did.

And now, gaining some understanding of their meaning, Lammy realized just how many people Hiroko's life impacted.

He raised his hand to his new marking and closed his eyes.

Hiroko…we'll keep being Guardians…we'll keep 'deviating…' just like you.

~

After the mourning ritual, the flames continued on. The shade of night was beginning to take over from the still lingering sunset, allowing the Worlds of other realities to grow more visible above.

Lammy found himself sitting alone in the sand, steps away from where they'd all been standing for the session. It didn't make sense to him to do anything else. His mind swamed through recent memories and ponderings of the near future.

Murmurs of conversation rose throughout the steadily dispersing crowd. The dragons' voices stood out, vibrating clearly despite their attempts at low volume. Lammy glanced over to Gibblezgorv and the others at the back of the village.

His attention sparked when he noticed the mint green dragon was speaking casually to a slight lump in the sand beside him. Lammy could have sworn he spotted two black, beady eyes blinking just above the surface of the ground.

Then, with another blink, they sunk soundlessly back into the sand.

Weird…Lammy noted.

"N…Noble Lammy."

Layla's dress appeared, blocking his vision of the curious sight. He looked up to find her face even more lofty and determined than usual.

"Yeah?" he asked, standing up.

She merely stared at him, whatever words she wanted to say frozen in her head. Layla glanced away for a moment.

"My time here has reached its end, so I must take my leave. My kingdom needs me," she finally announced.

"Oh," Lammy uttered. "Uh…you want me to keep bodyguarding, then?"

Layla shook her head. "I had Fewpar warp to my quarters last night. He was able to recover my most powerful warp orb–but he could only find one," she explained. "You have your own fight to finish, Noble Lammy. You must find her."

Under the Queen's unwavering stare, Lammy nodded.

"And Fewpar…also recovered something else for me…" she added.

Suddenly avoiding his eyes, she shuffled through her dress and retrieved a piece of jewelry. Its chain had a silvery twinkle, with a pale pink jem in the middle.

"Noble Lammy…you protected my sister, and then me, from the most ruthless of foes. You helped rescue my nation out of its deepest turmoil…"

"Uh…I guess so…" Lammy stammered, cheeks warming.

"...And so…if you'll accept…I would like to grant you this gift."

She paused until Lammy realized she wanted a response.

"Oh. Thanks Layla," he said. "It's really pr–"

Layla stepped forward and rose the necklace over his head. Quickly, she closed the chain behind his neck.

Lammy's cheeks got warmer.

But it didn't compare to Layla's, whose entire face had flushed bright red all of the sudden. She turned away, fidgeting with her dress.

"Um…if you need anything…" she mumbled, "...j–just let me know…"

Instantly, she twirled around and darted away from him.

"Huh?! Layla?!"

In her dash, the Queen bumped shoulders with her sister. Zayza faced her in bewilderment. Layla simply grabbed her in a rushed hug, uttered heartfelt words, and then released and ran even further.

Finally, her face still visibly flushed, she halted and turned back around to face them, sand tossing from her feet. A glowing crystal was in her hand.

"F–farewell for now!" she exclaimed.

With a flash that startled the villagers, Layla disappeared.

Lammy blinked. Ultimately he sighed and shook his head, sitting back down in the sand.

What a weird girl.

His solitude met another welcome interruption as Zayza approached, checking back to where Layla had warped from in puzzlement.

"Goodness. All that time apart, and she left with hardly a goodbye," she bemoaned.

Shrugging, she sat and joined Lammy. But her eyes shot wide when she noticed the new adornment around his neck.

"Lammy…did she…just give that to you?"

"Oh, this? Yeah. Why?"

Zayza slapped her palm onto her face and let out a groan.

"That girl…" she grumbled.

"What, Zayza? What?"

"That's her royal engagement necklace."

Color left Lammy's face.

"Her WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

By now Zayza's face was buried in both hands.

"Don't worry…neither of you are adults, so it doesn't have to mean anything…yet," Zayza elaborated. "And you're not Azvaylen. But technically…she just selected you as her husband-to-be."

Lammy froze in place.

Zayza let out another droning sigh. "I'm sorry about her," she said.

She remained like that for a moment, but eventually, her shoulders shook. She erupted into soft laughter.

Despite it all, Lammy smiled at the sound. They'd spent so much time together, across so much of the Multiverse–but constantly in a state of peril. He'd only heard her laugh a handful of times.

Besides, what even just happened?

He found himself joining in with a chuckle.

Zayza lifted her face and sat back up. "Things are about to feel very strange," she uttered with a distant smile.

Lammy didn't need to ask what she meant. Though he didn't want to, he knew.

He looked over to the fire. Deon and the others all stood together before it with their matching tattoos, staring into it in silence. He noticed the Consciousness League man, Credo Covewalk, approaching them.

"Are you sure you don't wanna stick with us?" Lammy asked Zayza.

Her smile softened as she shook her head. "Layla needs me safe until it's time for me to return and help her," she said.

"Then…I can stay here with you," Lammy resolved.

"Lammy…you need to be with your cousin," she said. "And you need to find Pang."

He knew it well, but he could hardly accept what it meant.

There was no way around it: this was where their paths finally diverged.

Lammy and Zayza's eyes locked. In the same instant, they reached forward and embraced each other tight.

"I know you'll find her," Zayza affirmed. "You're not what you thought you were when we met back in No Man's Land. You're so much more."

Lammy nodded, tears pushing out.

"And…so am I…you taught me that," Zayza added.

She paused for a moment.

"Lammy…there's something else."

They lifted from each other. Zayza looked off into the sand, with the same gaze as when they first arrived in the desert.

"When Hiroko's body vanished…" she started, her voice hushed, "I felt something in the Dream Chamber…and now that we're here, I can feel it again."

Lammy checked around, but he couldn't spot or feel anything unusual. Something about her tone made him realize he needed to quiet his speech, as well.

"What…do you mean?" he nearly whispered. "What do you think it is?"

"I simply don't know," she admitted. "But I'm going to spend my time here figuring it out. Just…please…"

Her stare shot through to Lammy's soul.

"Please don't tell Kotono anything about it."

Her insistence cutting through any hesitation in his mind, Lammy promised her.

"You'll figure out what it is," he assured. "I know you can."

Falling silent, the duo embraced one more time.

"When this is all over…" Zayza started.

"I know. Cinammon tea at Honest Stadium," completed Lammy.

Zayza breathed out a laugh. "Precisely."

~

The warmth lessened against Deon's face as the fire began withering at last. He and the others remained silent, transfixed on the flames.

Deon wrapped his arm around Skrili.

I swear we'll make you proud, Hiroko.

Though he couldn't hear the steps in the sand, he could sense the new presence beside them.

"I hope I didn't startle you earlier. I'm told I can give such an impression."

His speech was crisp, his words brighter than the Hidakalan tone.

Credo Covewalk.

Though Skrili, Kotono, and Phillip were clearly more familiar with him than Deon, they offered no reply.

Head of the whole League, huh? That's not so scary…

Deon took it upon himself. He finally detached his eyes from the fire.

"Look: I don't know how you found out. But if you're gonna ban us from the League, just go ahead and–"

"Kotono filled me in shortly before the rest of you arrived," Credo said.

Deon dropped his preemptive verbal assault. He noticed the dampness in Credo's eyes.

"I've been here in Hidakala for the past week to oversee the final stages of Lake Hirokyauta. I…promised Hiroko I would."

Finally, Skrili, Kotono, and Phillip gave their quiet attention.

"I come from a big family. And when I became Head of the League, as far as I'm concerned, my family got much bigger…so I hold myself personally responsible for the safety of all of my fighters," he told them.

He gazed into the fire, his jaw clenched.

"The Consciousness League will pour all of our resources into finding this 'Proscious' group, and take them down. We'll bring Pang Pereo back," he declared. "But…to win this, there's something I need to ask of you. All four of you."

Skrili shifted in Deon's arms. "What is it?"

Credo stepped closer. His damp eyes filled with the vengeance of a desperate parent.

Then, a glint appeared within them.

"To be the best Consciousness Team the Multiverse has ever seen."