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"Wow, she must have been so freaked out to lecture Zachary like that," Derlik said with a laugh. He finally stopped, looking out.
"We're here," he said. He motioned around to the area in front of them. There were several lakes, each a shimmering, iridescent color.
"Oooh, pretty~" Nix purred happily as he looked out upon the water, grinning brightly. "How many are there?" He asked.
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"Nine," Derlik said. "One for each of the major gods." Derlik walked around a bit, smiling.He paused next to one.
"This one is mine."
"Ooh, you get one all to yourself?" Nix smiled brightly as he looked down at the lake. "Does miss Serna have one?"
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Derlik nodded.
"Mhm! It's over there, see?" Derlik pointed to one of the lakes.
"Pretty!" Nix grinned, nuzzling against Derlik affectionately for a second. "What are they for?" He asked.
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"Well, they show the mental health of the gods. The dimmer it is, the worse off they are." Derlik hummed. His own lake looked pretty dazzling.
"Yours is really shiny! Whose is the really dull one over there?" Nix asked curiously, pointing to another lake.
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Derlik looked over, frowning softly.
"Ah, well, that's…" Derlik trailed off. He knew, but he doubted Nix would want to know.
Nix looked up at Derlik curiously when the other trailed off, clearly not catching on to the problem. "Did you forget?"
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Derlik shook his head slightly.
"It's… Halm's," he said softly.
"Oh… I guess that makes sense. He deserves to feel bad though, right? He wasn't very nice to us."
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"I… yeah," Derlik said softly. Still, how dim it was… it was cocerning at best.
Nix didn't really understand exactly how dark it needed to be in order for it to be concerning, but he tried to not feel guilty for it anyway. Halm had done horrible things to all three of them. He should feel bad.
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The water itself was nearly as dim as normal water. That… Derlik shook his head softly. It was Halm's own fault.
"Do you think these are pretty?" He asked instead.
"Mhmm! They're real shiny. Can I touch yours?" Nix asked curiously, reaching one hand out towards the water.
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Derlik tilted his head.
"Sure!" He said. "But it might be a bit of a surprise." He chuckled, knelt down so Nix could reach, and chuckled a bit. When Nix touched the water, it caused a perception shift. He wasn't seeing through his own eyes anymore- he was seeing through Derlik's.
Surprised? You're hearing my thoughts right now too. Derlik chuckled again.
Nix jumped a bit when he suddenly wasn't seeing through his own eyes, clearly bewildered. "That's weird… but also cool!" He smiled brightly down at the water. "Does it do that for everyone else too? And do they know that you're looking at their thoughts or no?"
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It does. Derlik didn't answer out loud, knowing it would cause a weird echoing chamber of sorts. And we don't know. The only reason I do is because you're right here. Derlik smiled, lightly placing his hand on Nix's head.
Nix purred a bit and nuzzled against Derlik after pulling his hand out of the water. "That's cool! Don't you guys exploit it sometimes, though?"
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"Sometimes." Derlik smiled, sitting down by the side of the lake with Nix in his lap.
"Usually, though, we respect each other's privacy. It's like an unspoken thing- don't mess with each other's minds."
"Mm…" Nix fell quiet for a while as he looked down into the water. "Why's Halm doing so badly, though?"
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Derlik was quiet a moment.
"I don't know," he finally admitted, looking over to the dim lake. "I don't know…"
Nix sighed softly. "He seemed really upset when we left, but… we had every right to, you know?"
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"Yes, you all did." Derlik let out a quiet breath, arms around Nix's waist. "He deserves to feel like this," he added quietly.
Nix nodded a bit and huddled closer. "Yeah… what we had was so good, but he ruined it…"
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Derlik ran his fingers through Nix's hair, nodding a bit.
"I know," he said softly. He held Nix close.
"I don't wanna think about that right now, though… it'll just upset me again." Nix fidgeted nervously with his hands.
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"Alright then. Here, let's talk about something else." Derlik held Nix close, humming softly.
"Would you like to know anything about us gods?"
"Mm… I dunno. Is there anything you wanna tell me?" Nix asked curiously, turning his gaze up to Derlik.
