Card Twenty One: Five of Swords

The expedition was over, and since Lavimo had been the one charged with making a map of the place and of all the extra rooms they’d found, he’d had the chance to personally hand it over to his aunt, Queen Nadia Aixon of Lilino. Vivienne had sent a scan of wind throughout the walls, but the only other rooms they could find looked like they used to be for autopsies or extra places to store monsters, filled with more metal cages and black blood stained against the walls.

Lavimo had kept his thoughts to himself, but once Kallan gave him permission to explore elsewhere, he started looking for more clues… the clues the book had mentioned would be laying around, hints to help him find whoever that person was. But in the end, he only found a key that didn’t seem to belong to anything, a seemingly untouched scalpel, and a few seashells stuck in the corner of the ground.

He kept it all to himself, of course. He wasn’t obligated to tell Kal anything. He was a prince, which meant he outranked Kallan, although… well, his planet was destroyed and no one lived there anymore… but he was still technically a prince, and was prophesied to someday be king, so he found this to be within his rights. Even if he got caught with the evidence, it wasn’t like his future as royalty on a restored Viscendant would be jeopardized. Besides, he wanted to figure this out himself. He didn’t need Kallan’s help. He just needed the help of his best and childhood friend, Haven Clovers. They would surely help him and together they would figure this out! And they would…!

“You’re an idiot,” was the first thing that came out of Haven’s mouth when Lavimo showed them the evidence he’d hidden away, their creamy pink hair wafting over the side of their face and curving around their cheek while they chewed on a candy stick. “Why would you hide evidence from Kallan? You know he’s more competent than you. By far.”

Their soft, mint green eyes were scanning over the evidence with a look of apathy before they went and casually picked up the scalpel, turning it around in their hands while Lavimo frowned at them. “Haven, you’re supposed to be on my side!”

“And condone your irresponsible behavior? No,” they countered immediately, Lavimo brewing with irritation as he sat down on the carpet of their room, not liking the way Haven began tracing the sides of the scalpel with their scientific gaze, like it was nothing more than a harmless toy. “Wow. This scalpel sure is sharp.”

“Uh, you should put that down. It’s a clue, so don’t get any of your blood on it.”

“Of course not. I’m not you,” Haven retorted, Lavimo’s brewing only intensifying as he clenched his ankles tighter.

“Well, excuse me! I only showed you these things so you could help me figure out what they meant!” he snapped in more frustration, reaching around to try and grab the handle of the scalpel while Haven lifted it away from him, to the point he had to stand on his knees to grab it. But eventually, his stronger grip found itself pinned on Haven’s wrist to keep their arm still, hovering on top of them before the smaller person leaned back while he gave them a stubborn glare. “Let go of it, Haven.”

“Wow, this is quite the compromising position. Are you going to do something to me? How scandalous of you, Lavimo…”

“What?! I’m not— I’m not going to do that!!” he snapped in a panic, face heating up as he suddenly thought it was a very good idea to grab the blade of the scalpel, a loud yelp popping from his mouth as he felt the flesh of his palm get sliced, Haven immediately dropping the sharp equipment to give him an angry glare.

“You’re so stupid,” the smaller person snarled, quickly grabbing Lavimo’s wrist as they pushed them both up, taking the man’s palm and smoothing it over with the power of their healing concept. The pain in his hand barely lasted another moment while Haven rubbed their thumb over the deep gash, but they were quite obviously furious with him as they growled, “What, so can you not handle me flirting with you anymore? Is that it? Why the hell would you grab the blade, dumbass?”

“Well… well, you were holding it away from me, and… um,” Lavimo’s mind stuttered, before he caught sight of Haven’s glaring features once again, as if they were daring him to try and justify his reckless impulsiveness. “Um, never mind. I’m sorry.”

“You better be. And weren’t you the one who was just saying this was a clue? It must’ve been kept that clean for a reason, as I’m sure you’re aware. What are you going to do now?” Haven hissed, swiftly reaching down to pick up the bloody scalpel to try and wipe off the red liquid as best they could, only to suddenly squint at what they saw.

Right there on the scalpel’s thin blade, wherever the blood touched, were letters. There wasn’t enough blood on the blade to see what it said, but the fact became clear to both of them. There was a code that had been kept hidden that could be revealed, and blood was the key.

“I guess it was a good thing I grabbed it,” Lavimo smiled, a bit happy that his actions had been redeemed, when Haven turned around to snap another glare in his direction. 

“No it wasn’t. You better not grab it again.”

“But there’s not enough blood on it. We need more, and you already healed the injury.”

“Then we’ll use my blood.”

“What? No, I’m not letting you do that!” Lavimo retorted, going to reach for the scalpel’s blade once more while Haven turned their back to him.

“It makes perfect logical and ethical sense! You already injured yourself, so now it’s my turn! We’ll take turns!” they announced firmly, hugging the scalpel close to their chest as they prepared to cut the tip of their finger.

“In no way is injuring yourself ever ethical!” Lavimo tried, tackling and pinning Haven to the floor as he attempted to reach over them and grab the blade, using the fact his body was larger and longer to try and stop them from moving their arms. But when Haven merely retreated and curled up into a small ball, he was about ready to pry them open again to take that damned scalpel away. “Stop trying to hurt yourself! Let me do it!”

“Too late! Hahah, blood!” Haven laughed pettily, thrusting their pointer finger in Lavimo’s face to show half of the tip’s skin sliced through.

“What?! No, your finger! It’ll fall off!”

“No it won’t, stop being dramatic,” Haven pushed him over with their elbow before kicking his stomach away with their foot, Lavimo wincing as he allowed himself to get pushed back up, frowning at Haven when they shined a triumphant smirk. “Hah, I win, you lose. Now let’s see what this shitty ass clue is.”

“You don’t need to curse so much…” Lavimo frowned, entirely dejected as he watched them squeeze fresh red blood onto the scalpel’s blade. “And why are you so happy about injuring yourself?”

“Because it meant I got to win an argument with you.”

“That’s not something that should make you happy. You shouldn’t be willing to injure yourself just to win against me.”

“Oh quit it, you’re acting like I’d cut off my arm for you. I just sliced the tip of my finger, and it’s not even like I can’t heal it. I am a healer, so I can do whatever I want. Stop acting like a pampered little boy.”

“Well you need to stop being a sadist!”

“I think injuring myself falls more onto the side of masochism, but either way, I’m not gonna listen to you, because I think you’re stupid. Now come here and have a look at this,” Haven responded neutrally, not an emotional bone in their body as they finally coated the scalpel in enough blood to get a reading.

“Oacabi…” Lavimo read off the blade, his mind already running to connect the dots as he tried to place where exactly that name came from. Though he was good at memorizing things, so the information came to him quickly as he repeated perfectly from memory, “The Oacabi Universe, a universe with four known planets inside it that each represent a different element of water. There’s Ravoon, a planet with many lakes that almost never stops raining and consists mostly of swamps and marshes… there’s a decent amount of people who live there, especially if you like rain. Listetti, a planet that is full of rivers that locate the ground and sky, that the merfolk constantly use to travel… water connects everything on that planet, even though it’s a third land. Pearalis, a planet that is made up of ninety-eight percent water with very little land, with its main inhabitants being merfolk or waterbreathers… though they also have a lot of humans and faeries living on the planet’s few islands since it’s so scenic with multiple beaches. And lastly, Trivanma, that is mostly land, yet it has mountains that explode with water, constantly flooding everything all year round… it's also mostly made up of sand, and not many people live there because it’s so catastrophic and you never know when you’ll be flooded next. Those four planets are what make up the Oacabi Universe as we know it,” he finished automatically, the information just spilling out of him on impulse while Haven gave him a smile. 

“You know I love it when you infodump,” they praised, moving a hand to ruffle through Lavimo’s thin black hair, the man bending into the small, affectionate touch. But he quickly refocused himself when Haven began their own commentation, mint eyes traveling over towards the seashells that lay right next to them in a see-through cloth pouch. “Based on what you’ve said, the planet they’re on is most likely where those seashells came from, so from your knowledge on the Oacabi Universe, I’d say either Pearalis or Trivanma is the planet we’re looking for, since they both have sand and multiple beaches where seashells can be found.”

“Hm, you’re right… how can we figure out which one of them it is?” Lavimo quickly asked, leaning over the rug to grab a hold of the seashells, carefully taking one of the small clams to examine it. “Maybe we could find someone who knows the concept of the spellbook? That way, if they have a tracking spell, they can track where the shells are from…”

“Hah, not a bad idea, but it’s still stupid,” Haven laughed at him, Lavimo’s back straightening with a frown.

“What? Why? What did I say this time?”

“I mean the fact that you’re suggesting we share this information with anyone at all, after you specifically hid the evidence from Kallan and the rest of your team,” Haven retorted bluntly, not sparing Lavimo any harsh judgement as they healed the gash on their pointer finger. “Though, if you were to ask him, I’m sure Kal knows a good spellcaster. You should ask him and be honest about what you hid,” Haven told him, catching sight of Lavimo’s stubborn frown to return it with a disgusted scowl of their own. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you so opposed to relying on other people besides me? That’s unhealthy and I don’t like being put on a pedestal. I’m gonna break up with you if you keep doing that.” 

“What?! No, don’t do that! Don’t break up with me! That’s not what I’m doing, I promise!” Lavimo blurted, leaning forward on his hands as the seashell dropped into his lap. “I just don’t like Kallan! He’s so bossy, and he’s mean and… um…”

He further hesitated when Haven raised a soft, thin pink eyebrow, not giving him any mercy as they prompted impatiently, “Well? Go on.”

“...I didn’t like how he was chosen to lead the mission over me,” Lavimo bit out through gritted teeth, not liking to admit his own insecurities while he averted his amber eyes in shame. “I was willing to endure that so long as he treated me like I was important to the group, but instead, he always kept giving me the least important tasks and didn’t let me do anything useful… so I thought that… if I could take the evidence I’d gathered and figure things out on my own… he’d be forced to admit that I’m actually just as competent as he is, and then he’d respect me more.”

It was silent for a bit as Lavimo kept glaring at the wall, hands in his lap moving to mess with the seashells again while Haven kept staring at him. It took them a moment, but eventually, they came to the conclusion that if they didn’t do anything to talk sense into that immature ego of his before he got slapped, no one else probably would either, so they rolled their head over their neck and let out a deep, long, frustrated sigh. “Uh huh. Okay, so let me get this straight,” Haven began, leaning forward to be right in Lavimo’s face as he flinched away from them. 

“You’re jealous that a person who has wayyyy more experience than you, a person who is wayyyy stronger than you, and a person who has wayyyyy more capabilities than you got chosen to lead instead of you, right? Because lemme tell ya…” Haven stared at him, not faltering when Lavimo turned around to protest, but instead silenced him by gently placing two of their fingers over his plump lips. “...you’re simply not as good as him. That’s why you weren’t chosen to lead. And I get you’re a prince, and you’ve been prophesied to be a king, but none of that matters when in the face of a threat. In the face of danger, in the face of lives that are at stake in the here and now, it’s common sense that the more experienced, stronger, more competent person should lead. And you have to learn that even if that’s not you, that’s okay. You’ll learn. You’ll gain more experience. You’ll get stronger the farther you go. You’ll be in Kallan’s spot someday, leading. That time just isn’t right now, okay? And there’s nothing wrong with that. So, you know. Grow up. Stop being a brat.”

Lavimo’s back straightened again as Haven removed their fingers, leaning back on their hands to give him a neutral stare while he grappled with the words he’d just been given. Because they were right, of course. Lavimo was young and inexperienced. He’d honestly just expected his birthright to get him positions, but obviously that wasn’t how things worked, not when reality was collapsing. His home planet was proof enough of that. But still…

“I just want him to respect me,” he insisted in a small voice, Haven tilting their head at him as they continued to lean back.

“What do you mean? You know he’s the one who recommended you to be on that team in the first place, right? He said it was your business, being your planet and all, and that you deserved to know. Originally, Nadia was going to send someone else,” Haven glowered at him, as if they really were staring at someone who was absolutely and utterly foolish. “If Kallan doesn’t respect you, then why the hell do you think he did that?”

“Um… yeah, he did that, but during the mission he—”

“He was probably just hard on you because you’re an arrogant little brat and knows you have a lot of room to grow and was trying to help make that happen. Simple,” Haven pretended to yawn, Lavimo frowning at them while mulling over his thoughts.

Fine. Maybe they had a point. Maybe Haven was right, and all of Kallan’s critiques had a lot of merit. And… and maybe he’d proven everyone right, that he really was immature, by hiding all of this evidence when he should’ve been sharing it with people… and yeah, maybe if he shared this with Kal, they could find a spellcaster and figure out if these seashells were from Pearalis or Trivanma. Maybe they could even find out what that mysterious key unlocked if he asked for Kallan’s help. Maybe… no, he really should do that. He was definitely being irresponsible.

“Ughhh, why are you always right?! You need to be wrong sometimes, Haven!!” he groaned pettily, slapping his hands over his face before he fell onto his back with the seashells sliding off his stomach, Haven smirking at him from ear to ear as they lifted their chin in arrogance.

“I’m never wrong, and you should be thankful for that. My insights have gotten you out of a lot of messes, like this one, for example. Where would you be without me?”

“I’d be just fine, probably.”

“I bet you’d be dead.”

“Why are you so morbid?”

“I’m just being realistic. Without me, no one would have been there to heal your hand after you decided it was a good idea to grab the blade of a scalpel.”

“I wouldn’t have tried to grab it if you hadn’t teased me!”

“Oh, so it’s my fault now? Blaming me for your own injury? What kind of boyfriend are you?”

“Haven!!”

“Hah, sorry, did I hit a nerve?” they smiled meanly, though their mint green gaze was still entirely fond. 

And yeah, they were probably right about all of that too, even if he didn’t want to admit it aloud. He really would be dead without Haven, probably. But… Haven would also be dead without him, too, so they balanced each other out. And in the end, they pushed each other forward, as well. That was all he’d ever wanted in a partner, and Haven was just that. Still, though… if only he knew that in the future, he would be dragged down so deep that not even his most dearest childhood friend and lover could lift him out. Instead, he’d be forced to accept a hand he despised to break free from the chains of corruption… and he would have to find it somewhere within himself to destroy one of the things he cherished most. If only he knew…