If one could peek into Vincent’s mind right about now, they would hear klaxons and all sorts of alarms going off. Every red flag had gone off, it was defcon one. His perfect plan to show her how much good they were going to be doing together, his plan to keep her in the Tarot had blown up in his face. Instead of blowing her away with joy, he’d blown her away in a different way.

The bad kind of way.

His mind raced to comprehend what had just happened. Sure she’d been mad at him for keeping a secret, he rage was nothing new to him, but he’d persevered so he could see the awesome conclusion at the end. Had he kept her waiting too long? Had the emotional whiplash hurt her somehow? Or was it something else? He racked his brain to try and knock and answer free from the spacious, empty, confines of his stupid fucking skull. It always seemed to end this way with her, he was always making some sort of mistake! It was like if he wasn’t nearly getting her killed left and right, he was stepping on landmines and unleashing some sort of emotional timebomb to fuck up every moment. It didn’t seem to matter that he was a hero, that he’d killed a forgotten one, with her he could just never seem to get it right!

A shove from behind set the scholar in motion. Staggering at first, the scholar took a couple slow, hesitant steps. Soon he was picking up some speed, increasing the length of his stride as he rushed to catch his friend, no, one of his closest companions on this world. She only had gone a short distance off, but for Vince it felt like she was worlds away. He had to make this right, but he had no clue what was wrong! Every ounce of his mind seethed with self-hatred, how could he have done this to her? What had he done to her? Suddenly he stopped and took in the warped landscape below, the hellish visage of dying fish and rotting plant life sprawling before them. He even saw a half melted carp hanging on a log, like some fucked up Salvador Dali painting.

Oh.

“God dammit Vince…” he muttered silently under his breath. How could he have been so oblivious? She was obviously distraught by this anguished landscape! He’d become so numb to all of the horrible things he’d seen in his adventures, that he’d forgotten how his friend would have reacted! Surely that was it! “Ray…” he called out as he got close to her. “I’m so sorry…” his voice trailed off as for once he didn’t have anything prepared to say. There was no speech, no snarky quip or comeback, just...emotions that defied his vocabulary.


“I should have realized my mistake…” finally his words came to him. “I should have realized I should have warned you about what we were going to see. I’ve just…” he paused. “I’ve just gotten so caught up in all of this hero business you know? All these shenanigans with destiny and fate, killing ancient evils and trying to protect everyone...I forget how sometimes stuff like this can affect people who aren’t used to it…”