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peacockstop2025-11-15 03:00 pm
goldmods) wrote in peacockstop2025-11-15 03:00 pm
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TDM 12
【 Thank you for choosing the Golden Peacock, 5-star resort and casino. You are currently registered as a WILDCARD in our system.
As a token of appreciation to all of our guests, the house and resort have worked in collaboration with the all powerful system that transmigrates souls between worlds to bring you a special excursion! All are invited to participate in our limited time event, Tits out! A Sex Dungeon! where guests can shop, craft, adventure, treasure hunt, and battle.
During this event, sexual encounters with WILDCARD guests are worth double the payout, so please keep an eye out for our new arrivals! Other supplies, such as typically banned weapons, are also available.
We appreciate our low rank guests temporarily adjusting their living quarters to accommodate this delightful experience. Extra thanks to you for your generosity! 】
WINDING MARKET
A ROOKERY COMES SPRAWLING
SPECIALTY SHOPS
LIMITED TIME WARES
JOBS & QUESTS
A MAKESHIFT TAVERN
Are you looking to make big coin? Do you have the strength and endurance to take on the dungeon? Then we want YOU to join our guild's quest to sLay!
The dungeon is teeming with sexy monsters that need sLaying. All you need to do to sLay is to fuck them real good! Once satisfied, these sexy monsters may drop quality loot. Join in the hunt to sLay and consolidate drops with our guild! We're happy to make trades or buy.
Yaaassss sLay all day!
JOB POSTING ONE! BIG PAYOUT FOR EASY WORK!
I am a pharmacist looking for some brave adventurers willing to go down into the dungeon and collect dongle flower milk for me. I need at least 10 bottles! This is an important ingredient in one of my popular prescriptions. I am not athletic enough to go get it myself and my supplies are running low.
Please deliver all dongle flower milk to the medical shop in the northwest corner of the market. Please note, I need FULL bottles. Do not skimp or I won't pay!
JOB POSTING TWO! HELP A WOMAN'S GROWING BUSINESS!
I am a young lady looking to expand my make-up business. I heard rumors that there's water in the dungeon that could make an AMAZING base for make-up products. But it sounds like it's super scary in there and I don't want to go. Please, someone, help!
You can bring all bottles of dungeon water to the make-up booth in the southeast corner of the market. I'm willing to pay in chips or trade some of my current products. My face masks and nail polishes are really good!
JOB POSTING THREE! PLEASE DON'T ASK WHY!
Hello. I need many dungeon slime cores, so I am looking for everyone and anyone willing to go slime hunting and gather some for me. We can negotiate pay based upon the number of slime cores brought. Do not inquire what the slimes or their cores are needed for.
Please bring all slime and slime core deliveries to back door of the Dried and Baked Sundries shop. Thank you!
JOB POSTING FOUR! I WANT COLLECTABLES!
If you're going into the dungeon, I want collectables. If you find that fabled treasure room, bring me back something cool and shiny. I'm willing to pay good money! I don't care what it is as long as it's hard to get and I can brag to my friends about it.
You can find me drinking in the tavern. I'll be wearing expensive velvet and a tiny hat with a feather.
A WHOLE NEW BASEMENT
GOOD LUCK, NEW ARRIVALS
UPPER DUNGEON
START THE DESCENT
LOWER DUNGEON
HALFWAY DOWN
TREASURE ROOM
IT DEFINITELY ISN'T CURSED
OOC NOTES
▶ BLANKET CW: alcohol; altered states; anonymous; aphrodisiacs; BDSM dynamics; body swap; breeding kink; classic tropes; costumes; cum play; dubcon; death; enchantments; erotic plants; erotic monsters; entrapment; hypnotism; noncon; temperature play; traps; weapons; violence; voice kink
▶ All characters on the TDM are WILDCARDS, which means they have not yet been assigned a card value. Suits will not manifest until characters are accepted into the game.
▶ All TDMs are game canon. This TDM acts as the game's November event and is designed to provide content for players through the mods' December break. The marketplace and dungeon will ICly conclude on January 1st.
▶ Current characters may top level on the TDM. Any current characters posting to the TDM should note they are current in their subject header. The top level directory is for new characters only. We want to make sure new characters are prioritized and receive attention!
▶ Smut threads that take place on this TDM can be used for rewards. If both parties in the smut thread join the game, you may retroactively apply the character's initial card values to your 52 bank. If one character does not join the game the thread will not be applicable toward rewards (as that character would not have a card value). The character that does join would still receive a small payout for the encounter. Hopefully it was a fun thread regardless!
▶ We ask you to kindly add content warnings to your threads as appropriate.
▶ If you do not currently have permissions and kinks listed in your character’s journal we suggest leaving a note in your top level of any limits or boundaries for other players to reference.
▶ All characters on the TDM are WILDCARDS, which means they have not yet been assigned a card value. Suits will not manifest until characters are accepted into the game.
▶ All TDMs are game canon. This TDM acts as the game's November event and is designed to provide content for players through the mods' December break. The marketplace and dungeon will ICly conclude on January 1st.
▶ Current characters may top level on the TDM. Any current characters posting to the TDM should note they are current in their subject header. The top level directory is for new characters only. We want to make sure new characters are prioritized and receive attention!
▶ Smut threads that take place on this TDM can be used for rewards. If both parties in the smut thread join the game, you may retroactively apply the character's initial card values to your 52 bank. If one character does not join the game the thread will not be applicable toward rewards (as that character would not have a card value). The character that does join would still receive a small payout for the encounter. Hopefully it was a fun thread regardless!
▶ We ask you to kindly add content warnings to your threads as appropriate.
▶ If you do not currently have permissions and kinks listed in your character’s journal we suggest leaving a note in your top level of any limits or boundaries for other players to reference.
the visceral reaction I had to the word 'relics'
He has been jovial, enthusiastic, offering boisterous (and a little overwrought) commentary as they bested one challenge after another as though he were the announcer of a gladiatorial arena. Ridiculous, in other words, but Stelle has never seemed to really, no matter how many times she's declared him 'cringe'.
The worst part was getting through the Super Hot Labyrinth, where he urged Stelle away from the panels that promised a pair stepping on them could find relief from the heat, and simply soldiered on through to the end.
Fortunately, it's cool in the treasure room, and they've had a chance to catch their breath. ]
It's not far, [ Phainon's watching her, wearing a complicated expression dominated by fondness, his tone gentle. He smiles; she's not wrong to note the nervous energy. He's been steadily more agitated (albeit in a benign way) the closer to this chamber they've come. Now, he can scarcely stray from her side. ]
I'll take you there in time, [ he promises. ] Why don't we search this room for a while first? We've made it this far... it would be a shame to head back without a souvenir!
just according to keikaku
Of course, a few things slipped by without commentary, but she decides she can always ask him later.
Can't imagine why you wouldn't want to swap bodies, Phainon, it's not like you haven't been inside her before—All of this to say, arriving in a room full of treasure that's feeling smaller by the moment seems about par for the course.
Her smile is just as warm as ever as she takes him in, a mirror of that fondness he can't seem to contain. ]
Alright. Let's see what we can find!
[ She has very little interest in all the gold coins, though more than one name comes to mind by immediate association... There are some other fascinating trinkets, though, and a wisp of cloth that appears to conceal things, which she finds FAR too fascinating to pass up.
She pockets a gem or two, things that she'd seen quests in passing for, and hands Phainon a ridiculously gaudy goblet of questionable metallic value, inlaid with red stones of some kind. ]
What's your professional opinion of this piece?
[ Fully in character, of course. ]
no subject
because the last time he swapped bodies with someone he lost a significant amount of time banging instead of advancingFor a while, Phainon only makes the pretense of searching the treasure trove. Most of that time is spent tracking Stelle’s every move, smile broadening the she finds some kind of camouflage that makes things all but vanish from view.
She could get up to endless mischief in something like that, he thinks. A fond but anticipatory grief threatens his resolve; he never wants to let a single person precious to him go, never wants to taste the bitter fraught of loneliness again.
But this has to happen. He knew they were on borrowed time. Phainon’s distracted search of the treasure makes finding one particular item a serendipitous accomplishment.
It vanishes into a pocket as he hears her approach.
He first almost scoffs in incredulous amusement; even at a glance this looks more like a fancy prop - but he takes her request seriously, turning it over, making a spectacle of inspecting it under the light from every angle. ]
It pains me to give you bad news, [ he says, sliding a heavy arm across her shoulders and pulling her closer to look. He holds the goblet near her eyes. ] Do you see the scratches in the metal? It’s paint, and judging by its weight, it’s much too light a material.
And these stones… do you see how the reflection looks a little wavy? These gems are glass.
no subject
Oh no, the horror.While Stelle has very little actual gift to tell the value of something at a glance, and in fact has probably shattered or discarded a few priceless things in her admittedly short lifespan, even she knows this goblet was trash.
However, it's well-known exactly how this woman feels about trash.
And maybe she just wanted to waste a little time in the spirit of adventure, or even Trailblazing, as evidently, this dungeon leads to answers about those friends of hers that have gone missing, recently. And maybe more than that. Not that she's not in a hurry, but if Phainon's information is right, well... it's not like they're going anywhere else.
Phainon's arm across her shoulders is a welcome weight, and she leans into his body without hesitation, attention rapt and not at all for show. There's an unmatched warmth in knowing he'll play along with her. She's nodding along, humming in consideration as he picks the prop apart, and for all the world taking this very seriously. ]
So you're saying I can make bank on this.
[ Very seriously. ]
no subject
You don’t want to be this far from a shower after he’s done making a mess of you, Stelle. Trust.Phainon grins, and passes the goblet back to her with an aching chest. The arm across her shoulders pulls her a little tighter against his side, allowing himself a little selfishness.
Let him be a little greedy. It’ll be the last time. ]
Heaps of money.
[ His hand flips some of her hair as he musses it, hoping to distract her as he pulls himself together. ]
Find anything else you want to take back with you?
no subject
Bet. As if she doesn't revel in mess.The goblet goes into her satchel though there isn't really much room, glass bottles of water from the caves clinking together ominously, which is to say nothing of the jars of Slime Goo™... And Stelle leans heavily against Phainon's side, in no hurry to extract herself.
It doesn't read as selfishness to her, though perhaps that's simply because she's exactly where she wants to be, and if he wants to hold her closer, she's more than happy to be held. And then he messes with her hair and she's swatting at him as she pulls away, despite herself. As if her hair isn't already a disaster by this stage of the Adventure.
She eyes him suspiciously, but it's all mischief— ]
Besides you?
[ —or what passes for flirtation, in her case. ]
Maybe one or two things.
no subject
If he could return with her... it would mean abandoning Mydei once more, and again for the sake of their world, and the new dawn, threatened by the shadow of great calamity. There is no choice here that doesn't hurt, and so he chooses the one that hurts the greatest number of people the least.
And, again, removes the variable named Phainon from the equation. Just like always. ]
So smooth! Come on, I saw you light up when you picked up some kind of cloth, [ Which... then sort of... vanished? He leans over, scrutinizing her hands, ] Actually, are you carrying it now, and I just can't see it?
no subject
And sure, it puts a damper on the mood, but Stelle has always been one to embrace the moment, regardless, so she swallows down her apprehensions, her own quiet worries that maybe they're walking into some kind of trap, that the rumors are just that: rumors.
He brushes off her flirtation, and she lets it go, because obviously it's not the time, and she can read the room, she likes to think. And of course he noticed the strange piece of fabric she'd tried to discreetly pocket. That's what she gets for trying to be subtle.
A slight smirk tugs at her lips regardless as she digs around in her bag until her fingers latch onto the cloak that most certainly is taking up more of her bag than it appears to. ]
I'm not sure what it does, exactly, but,
[ she drapes it over her arm...and her arm vanishes from hand to elbow. ]
I think it might come in handy.
[ She prods at his side with her invisible hand. ]
What about you, I saw you digging around, too.
no subject
He hadn't known what he was looking at when Cale and he first stumbled into that surreal chapter, but information from Topaz and Dorothea helped him assemble a picture that he thinks might be closer to the truth.
Somewhere, he's sure they'll find a statue that looks familiar to them both - a little more painfully so for Stelle, for sure. In truth, he doesn't want that helplessness for her, so he has settled on this. Once more making choices for others, hoping that Stelle's unique talent for breaking the rules will play out in her favor, always.
A cloak that renders someone invisible is sure to be a vehicle of all sorts of mischief, but Phainon can immediately identify a valuable resource when he sees one. She should take it with her. If it makes the journey back, if she makes the journey back... then...
He's been silent too long and pushes his hand over his nape with an embarrassed smile, nodding. His own hand hunts hers, blindly, eventually smacking against it before he manages to catch her invisible wrist. With a tightening throat and warmth behind his eyes, he pulls her with him as he walks deeper into the treasure room.
It's time to bring this to a close, before he loses his nerve to the inevitability of having to say goodbye. On this end, there's just a simple door, and a page affixed to the wall beside it. ]
I did find something... As you know, certain things hold special meaning among our people. Wreaths of flowers and wheat, a drinking vessel... a ring.
[ Placing her between him and the door, he clasps her hands between his, heedless of how it looks like he's grasping air, his own fingers vanishing where they're covered by the cloak. ] As a closed loop, they say... it represents an eternal promise. One that I'd like to make to you now.
no subject
She knows exactly how well he'd take it if she mentioned it.
He tugs her along with him and she goes without question, though her expression no doubt projects her curiosity, her growing concern. There's a door, as he'd mentioned before, one that he'd said would take them to answers. She doesn't quite catch the writing on the sign before she's turned to face him.
At first she thinks he's talking about the ridiculous goblet she'd pocketed, and then he gets to a ring and eternal promise and quite frankly she's stunned speechless because she might not know much but she knows what this sounds like and she was not equipped to process what is sounding suspiciously like a proposal. ]
Phainon...
[ She's said his name so many times and meant so many things by it... A prayer, a promise, a question, an answer, a greeting...
Her voice is quiet, caught between them, her eyes wide and locked on his. ]
What are you saying?
[ She couldn't move if she wanted to, transfixed in his gaze, held in his hands, her heart beating so hard in her chest she swears she can hear it. She doesn't know what she hopes for.
She knows what she fears. ]
no subject
Stelle seems stunned and part of him wonders if she’s already understood what he intends to do, if she’s too surprised now for betrayal to set in.
He needs for her to understand that, whatever happens, whatever the outcome, he is still her steadfast friend. ]
Do you remember what I said was Amphoreus’ greatest miracle?
[ It’s not the Vortex of Genesis or its secrets. It isn’t the Era Nova. ] My feelings have not changed.
You are a part of me; the hero I treasured in my heart through the long journey, and my light in the deepest dark.
Without you, I am found wanting. With you, and we shake the heavens, we can shatter the cage of fate.
[ Oh, this really is sounding like a proposal. ]
For as long as I exist, I will remember you, and this promise: I will steward your allies, I will seek their revival, and I will see them returned to you, if I can.
And I will see you again, when you bring a reckoning to the calamity that waits to be born.
[ His voice cracks; he shakes it off, and flips aside the end of the cloak so he can unfurl his fist, a ring (and its cubic zirconia gemstone) glinting in his palm. ]
So take this, let it remind you always that, wherever you go, I am thinking of you. Fighting for you. Just as you have fought for us.
May this bond between us never tarnish.
no subject
(Well, she's also witnessed a few too many rituals to attempt to become an aeon, but she's ruled out that option, here.)
This feels like a goodbye and she can't fathom why. Why now, rather, not...why it feels like a goodbye. It feels like a goodbye because it isn't the first they've shared.
At an utter loss for words, her heart heavy and yet pounding against her ribs, Stelle eyes the ring he offers, and wonders if she can hold him in this moment just a little longer if she doesn't take it. Wonders how long he's been rehearsing this, or if he really does just manifest poetry on a moment's notice. ]
I've forgotten a lot, Phainon.
[ She covers his hand with hers, not taking the ring just yet, but holding his hand between both hers, now, too many emotions to name bubbling up, spilling into her eyes, a telltale glistening. ]
I could never forget you. I won't ever forget you. And whatever is going on, whatever this is between us...I...I'm fighting for you, too.
[ She swallows hard. ]
So you can come home.
[ They're going to save Amphoreus. And he's going to get to see it. ]
no subject
Over thirty three million goodbyes, so many unsaid, countless partings delivered by his own hands.
Few gut him like this anymore.
Cyrene, so small yet so brave. Mydei, noble and fierce, unwavering time after time.
Stelle… her eyes brimming, their amber color an unerring reminder of what he’s doing it all for.
Pain cracks his mask; Phainon squeezes shut his eyes with gritted teeth, lungs emptying out in a shudder of breath.
An arm pulls her to him, wrapping around her shoulders, his palm pressing the shape of the ring into her hand where he grasps it. ]
I will, [ he says shakily, the words that follow steadier after he sucks in a breath. ] But I must ensure that the others follow you there, first.
no subject
His mask cracks, her tears spill over, and she presses her face to his chest as he pulls her close, his other hand still wrapped up in hers, between them, against her breast. She feels his shudder through her entire body, swallows once more as if it'll help her breathe properly.
She's not sure how they got here again. She's beginning to realize they've been here all along. ]
I know.
[ She does. She doesn't. She wants to. ]
But I wish you didn't have to.
[ Said so softly against his chest, knowing full well it's a selfish wish, that it is his destiny to fight alone. But she doesn't have to like it. ]
no subject
Grief splits his charred heart open; he already misses her, will miss the stolen time they’ve had. When he returns, if he returns, he faces a long and excruciating exile - holding back the Black Tide, imprisoning the burgeoning calamity with his bones, his memories as the prison bars - and their eventual reunion will herald the end of this journey.
But for a little while, they could share a laugh, a meal, the comfort of touch. A hundred fragments of light that, together, form a spark of hope he can carry with him through time, through sleep, until the dawn at last breaks.
Phainon’s fingers sift into her hair, his face turns down to press a kiss to her head, nodding. Nodding too much. ]
I can still do something for you, [ he whispers back, grateful that he can still be useful, he can still support the fight. ] For Amphoreus.
[ A warm pressure on her head, another press of his lips, and he steps back, his smile wan but determined.
Their disparity in height means he has to stoop a little to do this, his eyes a little blurry when he seeks to fit the ring on one of her fingers, as if that could secure it for the journey ahead, or assure her acceptance of his parting gift. ]
My time with you has been a gift, [ he lifts her hand to his lips, then his brow, and screws back on an encouraging smile over the shape of his heartache. ] Now, go.
The way forward is here.
[ A door home, which he’ll be mortified to realize he’d taken far too literally. ]
no subject
However, it is a thought for another time, as in this moment, Stelle isn't seeing particularly clearly, either literally or figuratively, nor thinking particularly clearly, as Phainon slides the ring on her finger, as her stalling is effectively thwarted, as time picks up and begins to drag her mercilessly with it and she scrambles to catch up, to understand what he means.
His expression breaks her heart. He's being strong for her.
Determined to hold onto his hand, as much as she'd rather cup his face with it, she's turning to get a better look at the door, to catch the word Home on the sign, and the warning below it.
She turns back to him, incredulous, perplexed, a little sobered, and not yet grasping just exactly how she's been deceived. ]
Phainon... do you really think they would just let us go home?
[ If it claimed to lead anywhere else, she'd barely hesitate, truth be told, the need to Trailblaze in her very veins. But what if it can? What if it's real? The smallest thread of hope winds through her, chokes her. ]
I can't just leave.
[ He's not the only person she cares about, here. She can't just go without saying goodbye, can't have them searching for a statue—like she thought they were.
Oh.
She reaches out her free hand, presses her palm against his chest, and squeezes his hand in her other, her expression lost, her mind racing. ]
I need a minute.
no subject
Stelle asks for a moment. Phainon nods, eyes closed, and pulls her against him like he’s done before.
Something has changed; this is less an embrace and more a grapple, as muscle bunches, and Phainon’s impressive upper body strength deadlifts Stelle, lofting her over one shoulder, an arm folding over legs he expects will start kicking. ]
I will tell them you’re gone, [ he fights to say, trying to take one dragging step after another towards the door. ] I’ll warn them not to look for you-
no subject
She doesn't realize what he's doing, at first, not that she would have pulled away, anyway. That is never her first response with him, every day a little more wrapped up in him, as if they could be any more entwined. He pulls her close and she exhales, and that's the only reason she doesn't yelp as loudly as she normally would when her feet leave the ground, when his arm traps her thighs against him, and she gasps for breath, instead. ]
Phainon!
[ It's not the first time she's said his name in surprise, but it's certainly the first in a context less than pleasurable. His words send a cold chill through her, and she does, indeed, start kicking. ]
What are you doing!?
[ She doesn't want to hurt him, doesn't think to draw a weapon, but she has a good idea where this is going, and she's so angry it blocks out the terror, the worry, long enough she beats her fists against his back, does her best to wriggle off his shoulder, grips and tugs at his tunic as if she can pull him back from his inexorable march. ]
Put me DOWN!
[ She doesn't realize she's crying until her choked inhale informs her. ]
no subject
They've been in life-and-death situations before and they've shown each other their prowess, side by side, so she's never felt it like this, with him exerting every ounce of his strength as though letting her get away from him might be the same as dooming everything and everyone he's ever loved. Enduring each batter of her fists like he doesn't even feel them, jaw set, teeth bared in a grimace.
There's a purr as her yanking on his shirt causes a seam to rip along his shoulder, leaving its collar distended. Phainon doesn't know why she doesn't try to throttle him with the cloth he leaves around his throat. He supposes... he'd have as hard a time playing for keeps against her, if it came down to it. And it will. ]
Did you think being the Deliverer means getting what you want?
[ The sound of her tears guts him, but his own shout can't make this right. ] I'm- I'm sorry.
[ His voice thickens, cracks. It isn't just that this is a struggle with every difficult step taken, every inch towards the door a battle. To delay any more only invites her to fight back and maybe, maybe she deserves that chances, and maybe that's why- not just that he's so reluctant to let anyone go. ] I'm sorry it has to be you.
But a signal isn't enough. It was... never enough.
no subject
Did you think being the Deliverer means getting what you want?
She stills like he's just stabbed her.
He may as well have, the way her body feels like it's caving in on her, the way the pain radiates from the center of her chest outward.
How dare you, she wants to say.
But he's right.
He's right.
When you have a chance to make a choice, make the one you won't regret.
But this was never really her choice. It was never really his.
He's done enough. She said she would carry the weight of the world, and she meant it. She would be the Deliverer, the Dawn Bringer, the World Bearer in his stead, while he fought a battle only he could. A battle he'd been treading towards unrelentingly all his life. All his lives.
Never enough. ]
Just get it over with, Phainon.
[ The fight has bled out of her. ]
I'll go.
no subject
And he hates that, taking the choice from her, but Amphoreus must be saved. If there's even the slightest chance it can be done, it has to be done. None of this is fair to her, who is so much more than a title can encompass. He throws her away, a piece of his heart, one of the few good pieces of him left. But that's the problem with Phainon; he's always been willing to burn himself to light the way, he's only ever known how to spend himself up in service to Deliverance.
Maybe it's worse that he can't bring himself to look at her, when the portal between the doorframe and the wall swallows her up. ]
no subject
Really, she should've known better. There was no one more committed to their own narrative than Phainon.
For the briefest moment she's airborne, thrown, she realizes, tossed like as much beloved trash as she's ever been, and the last thing she sees is his profile, the image of a tragic hero.
Well, not the last thing. There's a weird, slimy feel to the entire experience that isn't wholly emotional, hands guiding her through some kind of liminal space, tugging, pulling, pushing, until she lands on her ass unceremoniously in an empty suite.
It's familiar, but not, the layout, some of the furniture, but the scent is all wrong. Too clean. ]
Dan Heng?
[ A tentative callout from the floor, because...well, it looks like his room, at a glance, until it dawns on her, no. It isn't.
Does that mean it's....
She glances at the watch still on her wrist and closes her eyes.
For a brief, petty, angry and pained moment, she considers saying nothing at all. Letting him fester in it, letting him miss her so she can drop kick his beautiful, stupid face and walk away on her own another day.
It flashes warm for a moment before it chills her to the bone. No. He did what he thought was right. And who was she to think she meant more in any moment than Amphoreus did. ]
I'm still here. Suite upgrade.
Don't look for me.
no subject
His chest and shoulders rise and fall to his labored breath, staring at the wall beside the door. A numb shock has settled over him like a wet mantle, heavy, chilling; he's been here before, with Cyrene lying on the cold stone beside him, Mydeimos lying still where he was slain, countless other such monstrous scenes, performed for the sake of a dawn for Amphoreus.
She's gone, and all that's left of her are these memories - those amber eyes, the radiance of her smile, the warmth of her embrace - and now, he's added the sound of her outrage, her tears of betrayal, and the bruises blooming on his back.
He hasn't killed her. Surely this means she's made it back. Maybe she will never forgive him, but it won't matter if he can- when he can restore Welt, and send him and Dan Heng after her.
It's this spiral - bargaining with himself that surely it was worth it - that's interrupted by the sound of his watch chiming. He numbly glances down... and smothers the sound that threatens to chase his sharp inhale with a hand over his mouth. ]