Archive of Our Own ^beta

It’s time for the usual “spring cleaning” of her personal notebooks as Beau sits down at her new desk within the Nein-Sided Tower.

She takes the most recent ones she’s been filling up and starts to condense them into her monthly correspondence with the Cobalt Soul.

Truth be told, it’s something of a therapeutic habit. Especially after the shit that went down with the hag and Kamordah. And now that they’re planning to head up north to Eiselcross, she’s got stuff to offload so she can make room for more notes.

Granted, she’s going to need all of her relevant notes handy when it comes to the Tombtakers and whatnot, given how useful they’ve been so far. Everything else she can safely entrust with the archive.

It’s taken a while, but she’s been getting better at trusting the Soul in spite of how she became a member in the first place.

And Zeenoth’s actually been a good egg as of late, actually showing her respect not only as a co-worker but as a peer.

Still rather weird to think about, but not uncomfortable these days. She can trust him with these volumes.

She’s just about got everything set to go when an errant folded piece of parchment slips from one of the notebooks.

Curious, Beau picks up the parchment and unfolds it. When did she find time to write something separate from her usual books?

She finds her answer the moment she begins to read the writing within.

You guys know that I’m shit at goodbyes, so I’ll keep this brief.

It’s nothing against you all. It’s just… that I had to do this.

Trust me, you won’t be missing much.

Don’t be sad that I’m gone. I love you all so much.

I just think that this is as far as I can go.

The time I’ve spent with you all has been some of the best moments of my life… while also housing some of the worst.

Not every day you end up experiencing the death of a friend up close, or having a near-death experience every other Folsen. But hey, at least I know you guys had my back.

It’s been fun, but I gotta be honest. Probably for once in my life.

This wasn’t going to last forever, I’d be lying to myself if I thought otherwise.

So I’m just gonna take initiative while I can and do one last good deed.

Please tell Veth to not hate me for this. Because she had a family to go back to.

And please don’t look for me. If you all care about me, please honor this last request.

Anyway, see you… never again, I guess. It’s been real.

Beauregard Lionett

She remembers when she wrote this.

It was just the night before the ascent up Mount Mentiri.

The night that everything got worse.

Beau honestly forgot that she still had this.

And that she didn’t have to leave this with the others.

Not after they convinced her to stay with them.

She smirks, relieved that she didn’t make that fatal deal with Isharnai.

She will be forever grateful to these chucklefucks that pulled her back from the brink.

There’s a knock on her door. And Caleb’s familiar voice calling to her.

“You ready to go, ja?”

She nods to no one in particular, just to herself. “Yeah, be right there.”

Beau opens the door and greets Caleb with a smile. The wizard’s been a good friend, the closest thing to a brother in all but blood. She’s glad that despite their occasional disagreements, they still see eye-to-eye when it matters.

And speaking of…

“Yo. Can I borrow your fire for a bit?”

Caleb’s not certain as to why she’s requesting such a thing, but does so nonetheless as he conjures a flame from his palm.

Without a word, she pulls out the intended goodbye letter and burns it.

Once it is reduced to ash, Caleb snuffs out the flame and asks, “What was that?”

Beau shakes her head and doesn’t answer.

It’s not really a big deal anymore.

Just another bit of spring cleaning to take care of.

With that, they join the others outside the tower.