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Taako is alone. And he feels it now- how did he not notice before? All this time, his sister, his only companion that had always been by his side, no matter what, through cold rainy nights spent under bushes on the road, to sneaking food off of inn tables-
She’d held him after that catastrophe at Glamor Springs, had been suspicious of Sazed’s motives from the start, and though she’d been basically useless in the kitchen (she at one point had made a lettuce soup. And burned it), Taako would still have rather had his show be called “Sizzle it Up With Taako and Chalupa” than “Sizzle it Up With Taako and Sazed.” She’d never left him, not even after he thought he’d killed all those people-
(She’d always been so much better at offensive magic than him that he hadn’t really seen the need to learn- why bother if Lup was always going to be around?)
Her smile, her face, her snicker as she flicked him on the ear and told him to chill out-
Chalupa ‘Lup’ Taaco, Taako Taaco’s literal other half and twin sister. They’d lived on their own for so long that joining the organization had been more of a lark than anything else, and the novelty of new friends had been crazy.
He’d forgotten her. He’d forgotten his sister.
How could they do this to him?
He’s crying, but doesn’t notice, not really, large tears drip-drip-dripping on the floor in front of him. He can hear screaming from outside as the Hunger attacks the Bureau of Balance, can hear Merle and Davenport and Barry and Lucretia, but he doesn’t hear his sister.
She’s gone.
She’s not coming back.
And he wasn’t even given the meagre grace of being able to remember that he’d had a sister, and she had loved him and he had loved her, and they’d had their squabbles, but they had been siblings, and he hadn’t been alone, and now that he’s been alone for so long and he can finally remember what it was like to have someone always there, to rely on-
It hurts.
“Taako? Taako, buddy, you gotta get up, we need to get out of here. The Hunger’s loose and we need to go. Taako? Can you hear me?”
It’s Magnus. And not mannequin Magnus, flesh Magnus. And he seems to remember things, which is nice.
(Sure would have been a pain in the ass to have to recite all their misadventures.)
But Taako is too overwhelmed by this, by that voidfish’s water, by the realizations. He can’t move, barely registers Magnus hoisting him over his shoulder and saying something about ‘stupid skinny pointy elves’ before they’re moving.
“Damn,” he hears Lucretia say. “I warned them. How’s Merle holding up?”
“I’m here,” says Merle, perhaps a little gruffer than normal but still able to speak and move, and right now that’s all the Director- Lucretia- wants.
Taako is a little too busy having an emotional crisis to focus on the hordes of darkness that are gaining on them. Magnus is holding Taako across one shoulder and lashing out with the Flaming Raging Sword of Doom with his free arm. Taako is sure that it looks extremely badass, but he’s too busy frantically trying to hold on to what Chalupa looked like when she laughed-
(He can’t remember how she died)
(What were her last words?)
There was still something… something that wasn’t fitting, like a puzzle piece that wouldn’t fit in the last open space. He knew it would kill him if he tried too hard to remember, but he had to. Chalupa deserved that, at least, even if her worthless, weak, idiot brother could accomplish nothing else-
(She’d always been the strong one, more daring, more willing to rush in like Magnus always does- and did…)
God, his head hurts so much.
And he’s alone. Even with Magnus hollering in his ear and Merle bitching near their feet, Taako feels alone, and he still feels like he’s missing something.
(There was something… not a voidfish memory, something else)
Red Robes… When had they first-
Oh no. No.
Taako slowly lifts his umbra-staff.
It had been found with a Red Robe’s body. It could consume magic users.
When he’d been teaching Angus, the staff had burned letters into the wall.
L… U… P…
Taako looked up from Magnus’s shoulder at the horde pursuing him, then back at the umbrella in his hand that might- might- contain his lost sister.
He wasn’t sure if it was himself or Lup who raised the umbra staff at the Hunger and screeched, “ABRACA-FUCK-YOU!”