Hati gave Saint a vampire's smile at the mention of her making him nervous. It wasn't the intended outcome, but she wasn't displeased to hear it. She tucked her feet under herself to keep her bare toes warm as she sipped her tea.
"Well I'm certainly glad you're serious," She responded, placing her china teacup back on the table in front of her, "Because there's always use for a Mercenary. But I must touch back on a point I brought up earlier--I have severed all ties with the Darkness. This means I must be cautious in my dealings with those who still have connections to, or use, the Darkness because it wasn't exactly a mutual severance. Think of it like I have a nasty ex-lover, I'm sure you know what that's like~. Constantly stalking to see what I'm up to, prying into who I talk to, jealousy abound . . . so this will naturally mean a bit of secrecy on my part, you won't always know why you're doing what you're doing if I have you run an errand. Unless . . . you would care to follow suit in severing your ties? Your decision really, arrangements can be made for loss of power, but I will admit that I'll trust you with less information and, well, will plainly trust you less if you decline."
Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2016 10:30 pm
[ Hangar -> Hall of the Cornerstone ]
As everyone gathered, of their own accord or prodded by others, Merlin did a brief headcount to be sure before flicking his wand to and fro; with a brief flutter of blue dust a slight pull from within their abdomens, they found themselves back in the large, circular room that held the Cornerstone.
This time, however, it was lit more by crystal braziers along the walls than by the stone at the center. And there, standing in front of it as so often before, was Yen Sid, staring into its depths. From what they could see of it, it was still in one piece, but the light was weaker, the spiraling magic within much softer and slower.
Those that had been given a boost of energy by Merlin's magic found themselves suddenly much more drained; it seemed that the mere touch of the wizard's magic was enough of a 'signal' to mark the end of the spell.
The same was true for anyone who had been given a magical reprieve from drunkenness--they would suddenly feel terribly hungover.
"Whatever has occurred, and whatever we are about to discuss," Yen Sid began, tense but soft; for the first time, he sounded genuinely tired. "Know that we are all immensely relieved to have you all safely returned."
"Still, much has happened... too much." He turned around to face them, his hands remaining held behind his back. "I need to know what transpired tonight in that tainted domain, both to prepare for the future and in the hopes that, perhaps, it will help us understand how we may restore the stone's luminescence."
"That said, I know there are some of you too exhausted to remain for long, and this may indeed be a lengthy conversation," he said, slowly nodding and blinking, the weariness heavy even on himself. "If you feel far gone, you are relieved to head to your rooms--the brooms will lead you. But we must cover all accounts, so I request at least some of you remain, particularly if any of you split apart or experienced different scenarios."
Sora and Riku remained steadfast, knowing full well they would be called upon. Kyle, Matthew, and Jenny decided to remain, while Amy, Anthony, and Sayrike began to head toward the stairs that would lead up to the throne room and beyond.
The male was tired. Hurting. Strung out on stress and exhaustion. But...as much as he wanted to go lie down, a part of him made him groan aloud, rubbing his head with his hands. He knew he looked like s**t, too, but that didn't seem to concern him when he opened his mouth.
"...Can I get a chair?" His voice was quiet, but held an edge of what sounded like exasperation. Which wasn't far off to assume, but it was more out of what he was currently feeling than anything anyone else in front of him had done.
Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 12:12 am
[Kyla : Disney Castle : Hall of the Cornerstone]
The artist felt sick as soon as the spell cast on her wore off- fatigue hit her like a Truck! She had been goin on days worth of magical use without proper sleep- added with the level of heavy magic using it built up something like a fever in her. The girls cheeks looked flushed, eyes half lidded- arms lifted and hugged themselves around herself as if that would keep her together.
She strained to listen to Yen Sid, reluctant to miss out on this she slimy would nod- muttering a weak,-" 'mm stayin-" through tight lips. She didn't want to miss information, but also given the things that occurred- she was Curtis what other people's testimonies would be. What did the others see? In th end... Did they all see different versions of Louis? Also what happened to Noelle or the other "characters" who they were separated from? What did they see?
But... She had to relate to Joseph- "- mm c-ould you make that two chairs?.... Please? ..- I-if you could." She didn't want to seem demanding or assuming. Meanwhile Carbuncle- if Dawn was still holding it swished its tail back and forth- eyes concerned looking toward the stone.
Dawn stared forward while holding Carbuncle. She nodded her affirmative that she was staying. In the corner of her eye, she noticed Kyla's weak posture. Dawn turned to look at her worried.
"Hey Carby," she whispered into Carbuncle's ear, "You should go back to Kyla. She is drained. I don't think me selfishly holding you is going to do her much good. I will be fine now."
She glanced down at Carbuncle, then Dawn moved over to Kyla placing the summon on the girl's shoulder. She comfortingly wrapped one of her arms around Kyla as a way to help support her until someone could give the girl a chair.
Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2016 4:42 pm
[Saint .: Paris :. Tea Room]
Saint looked to Hati sternly, for a long while. Within him another bubble of rage was starting to form. Where it came from he was unsure, but nevertheless it was still there. He let her words sink in, yet he kept his composure, allowing for no emotion to show. He was deep in thought.
He looked around the room as if to respond, put his teacup down, and said, "I know you know the gravity of what you just said to me... and it is something to think about. Something like this is not a..."
He paused thinking of the right phrase and said, "...snap decision. I trust your opinion, as you've already been in my situation... I just can't... well, you know."
All traces of humor were now gone from the Replica. His eyes grew tired, and beaten as he stared back at Hati. Now, he payed no mind to anything else, and awaited her response, patiently, and pensively.
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2016 7:08 pm
[Noelle : Disney Castle : Hall of the Cornerstone]
Noelle stayed standing next to Kyle and made a motion for a third chair, the lifted hand trembling a little. Her body was a mess of fatigue and the runoff of other magical effects. She had a lot to drink before Merlin's spell, but she didn't feel much of the hangover she probably should have--between being kicked from the spell earlier than the others and having her entire life of memories ripped apart and glued back together she was paying the price for other experiences. Damn, had her body even been healed after the beatdown she'd gotten from Prototype I? Sure didn't feel like it.
"I'll, um . . ." Noelle didn't finish, her mind way to foggy to put together thoughts efficiently. Instead of saying anything, she just pointed down at the ground as an indication that she would stay.
Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2016 1:45 am
[Nicholas <> Disney Castle <> Hall of the Cornerstone]
Nicholas tapped his foot against the stone floor, glancing about between the various Earthlings with an obvious look of exhaustion and exasperation.
"I'm staying, for obvious reasons. I don't think we all need to check in with Master Yen Sid; we're all burnt out from dramatic reveals, changing sides, and world-changing actions. So, majority rest, a few stay, and everything is hunky-dory?"
He crossed his arms, still glancing about at the group.
{Bobbi, Demyx, Zell, Nanaki, Yuffie .:. Hall of the Cornerstone}
There was absolutely no way that Bobbi was going to miss out on any discussions happening. Tired as she was, flopping face-first onto a mattress could wait. So, she took up a position within hearing range, but out of the way, and stood with her arms crossed. She had her legs set at shoulder-width, weight distributed evenly. She could hold this stance for hours, no matter how tired she was. Her tea thermos was tucked conveniently under her arms should she need the caffeine hit.
"'M staying," she mumbled, rotating her head and shrugging her shoulders to pop one of the protesting vertebra in her spine. It could shut up and deal with the standing, dammit.
Demyx wasted absolutely no time in letting out an unnecessarily huge yawn and walking out of the room, giving the entire group the peace sign as he went.
"No use in me being here," he said. "I’m out. Later."
"Ah," Zell said, scratching at the back of his neck as he kicked at nothing on the floor. "I think I have more questions than answers. But I’ll stay and help if I can." The monk turned to look around at the group, at the number of people saying they were going to stay, at least three of which requested some sort of seating arrangement.
"But, um, does it have to be here? The library would let us all get off our feet. Y’know, without having to move too many chairs around."
Nanaki let himself lay on the cool marble floor with a sigh, head still up and alert but taking the chance to get comfortable. He wasn’t one to pass up an opportunity to learn anything, particularly not about the volatile situations he’d found himself in over the past few days. And if he could offer any insight, he would be glad to do so as well. However, just because the two-legs needed furniture to get comfortable didn’t mean he had to wait for them.
Yuffie hemmed and hawed and kicked the floor and stared around guiltily before she heaved an explosive sigh.
"I want to stay," she said, all pout. "I really do. But I’m too t-ti—" She tried and failed to hold back a yawn at the last word, stuttering through until she had to give in. "Tired. Sorry, guys, but I’m out, too. Good night." With extreme reluctance, Yuffie followed Demyx out of the Hall of the Cornerstone, and headed to her bedroom.
Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 6:33 am
[John .:. Hall of the Cornerstone]
John, still groggy from being woken up from his short nap gave a half assed two finger salute and said, "Aight sayonara bitches, this one's gonna sleep like a Rip van Winkle ******** sarcophagus..."
He followed the others toward the stairs, put his arms over his head and let out a great yawn.
As he departed up the stairs, he waved his hand in the air dismissively and said, "I'm sure all y'all got this. I'm gonna go have a nightmare... friggin' exploding Louis and demons and s**t..."
His voice trailed off as he continued to mumble to himself up the stairs. He was exhausted, and obviously was not taking the recent events well.
[Kyla/Carbuncle/Axel: Disney Castle: Hall of the CornerStone]
"You're a kind person Dawn."The summon replied as the fan user brought them over to her partners side. Once on Kyla shoulders the creature circled them gently, effortlessly, and it's phantasmal form blurred into translucence. Then just as Carbuncle settled around Kyla shoulders like some mink scarf, the summon faded from sight entirely, blurring back into Kyla's figure like a ghost repossessing a site of power. Dawn would hear an audible sigh, not from exact relief but comfort. Feeling Carbuncle's consciousness slip beneath the surface of her own again- like a fish diving back into water, it just felt right, it was reassuring. Carbuncles' presence passed by Kyla's consciousness like the gentle brush of soft fur and warmth. In the space set aside for it amongst the sea of their earthlings spirit, the summon took up residence. Kyla unconsciously leaned a little into Dawn, the dancer was sturdy and strong. Her body felt nice and cool in contrast to Kyla's heated skin. So close no doubt Dawn would feel the slight trembles running through the stubborn artist but she smiled, weakly in appreciative thanks to the dancers care and resumed listening. "Where to begin...?"
"..Rip van Winkle?..." With an eye brow arched Axel smirked as John made his exit. "Boy you earthlings have weird lingo sometimes." As John sorted a final comment he cupped his hands and called back- " ah just ask the brooms to raid the wizards cupboard for some knock out potion -minus dreams, I'm SURE they got something!"
Then the lean red head cracked his neck and pivoted the idea of staying a bit longer in his mind once or twice. He had a mind to retire, his muscles were sore, but it seemed a little expected of him to be passive. He didn't have much to contribute, but he didn't see the benefit of staying clueless all the time on matters. He still had his own priorities and something was up about what occurred in that castle that didn't seem like something he should just ignore. So the nobody decided to linger this time. It was odd they got separated back there, things were not quite lining up right, and the situation regarding the stone was curious. With Demix gone, Axel was alone to represent the neutral nobody party- "I think I'll stay, call me curious. Besides, I wouldn't be a good babysitter otherwise if I stayed out of the loop too long."
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 8:18 pm
[ Hall of the Cornerstone ]
At the mention of chairs, Yen Sid nodded over to Merlin, who began silently weaving an incantation with his wand. Some moments later, as their chatter wrapped up, identical wooden chairs, with deep blue cushions on the bottom, back, and arm rests, appeared just behind all those who elected to stay for the debriefing.
In the meanwhile, Nicholas' remarks brought the elder sorcerer's gaze toward him, his eyes searching, curious about this newcomer; there was a hint of suspicion within his expression, but not so much that he appeared distrustful or defensive.
"Given today's events, I wish to keep our meeting near the stone," Yen Sid replied to Zell, turning his attention now to the conductor. "There is a great deal of concern, and to be honest, we are hoping perhaps that your return may reinvigorate its light, much as what happened earlier this afternoon after the parade."
As everyone settled into their seats, Yen Sid gave them a moment to arrange themselves before speaking again. "Let us go through tonight's events, fresh as they may be. Sora, Riku?"
—————
And so the night's events were summarized as best as they could be; any interruptions were calmly stopped, and if anyone was belligerent, they would have found themselves made silent by Yen Sid's gaze not for any spell or magical reason, but for the sheer presence that made them fall silent.
Sora, Riku, and the other natives went first, each chiming in when necessary to fill in a description or event. They described passing through the storm—now known to have been the twisted heart-domain's boundary—and the shocking transition as they were in the train with the Earthlings one moment, and dropped in the middle of a dark, frozen wasteland the next. They fought their way through endless hordes to get into the castle, where a prolonged and exhausting fight with the fragment of Louis known as Liar took place. They described being helped by three other manifested Louis shards, Esteem, Innocence, and Justice, and they described the conclusion that brought their own illusion crashing down.
Then the Earthlings described their version of events: the crashing of the train, being caught between two fronts as exterior Heartless poured in to the battlefield to siege the castle they were trying to enter. They described the canons seeming to be there, but slowly dying off one after another, only to all go at once as the bridge collapsed underneath them. They explained the sudden appearance of Nicholas—who was awkwardly sitting as far back as he could, silently listening and waiting—who Noelle vouched for (both at the time, and again at this moment of retelling), and the appearance of Melisandre—and at her mention, many of them grumbled about the future reveal that it had been Ajora, or some ghost-fragment of him trapped in Louis' heart, or who knows or cares.
They described the strange, memory-deluding shift into an illusory ball, and the appearance of their family members—drawing obvious tension and heartache as they relived the scene, the sudden supposed-heartless attack, and the mystery they had to uncover. At this point, Kyle momentarily asked if anyone remembered a brief skip or moment of déjà vu; apparently, however, it was only his own memory acting up. Noelle only mentioned being separated and having to play the scene like a game of chess or roleplay, only to be whisked out (alongside Prote) by some odd force that led her outside the growing spell to meet an old man, that then brought them back here. The others, meanwhile, explained the illusion's unraveling as they found more clues, and how the mention of Louis finally brought all of their true memories back before snapping them out of one layer of illusion into another. Here, they were forced to fight another monstrosity while a husk of a replica was manipulated in the shadows (and perhaps a few of them also grumbled about someone's surprise theatricality), only to have one last assault, wherein the saw the other heroes on the other side of the ground, in a mirror-realm.
With the fight over, and the illusion settled, all were reunited, including the physical appearance of the three shards. From here, Sora and Riku described the scene, walking up to the weakened Liar and purging him after his final desperate ploy, only to find themselves met with another shard—Nemesis.
From here, people from each of the four split groups explained their experiences with the towers, with the purifications of Prisoner (now Curiosity), Victim (now Compassion), Nightmare (now Hope), and Traitor (now Morality), all to unlock the path down into the core of the spell and Louis' heart, to hopefully put an end to this entire quest. However, on returning, they were forced to fight against Nemesis and his generals... and so Justice once more split away from Kyle in his fury to become Vengeance. They were saved from some horrific laser-death by the redeemed shard of Liar, now Creativity and bound to Joe; now, though, the two corrupted shards were caught in a tug of war over the source of Nemesis' power: Rachel's heart. At this point, much to the frustration of many, a specter—or rather, maybe another specter—of Ajora appeared, attempting to talk sense into the shards while giving the others enough of a distraction to prepare. With a decisive grab and assault by the group, they managed to rip the heart from the two of them. Except, of course, it exploded with tainted light (obliterating the bodies of Nemesis and Vengeance) and produced some form of corrupted Rachel Heartless. With their combined efforts, and the help of the ice generals, they were able to vanquish her, cleansing her heart of the corruption and capturing it.
At this point, Kyle produced the heart, and a silence fell over the group as both Yen Sid and Merlin looked pained. Merlin began to walk toward Kyle to take the heart, but before he'd taken four steps, the younger man stashed it away again, apparently refusing to let it go yet.
They moved on with the story. Jenny and Kyle told of a momentary transportation, where they met with the Lady in Blue over Louis' heartless body. Trapped within the spell of his expanding heart, itself fractured and torn, there was concern that even should they end the spell, it would merely shrink the domain down to its original heart's size. Heart realms being unique metaspaces, there was no guarantee that would free them, or his body, and what that would mean. So the three of them fused the body with the shard that was Nemesis, now purified into its original form of Friendship, in the hopes that when all the pieces realigned at the end of the spell, the heart would instinctively go back to this last bond and remerge with its host, restoring some form of natural order and giving them an out via a Dive's escape.
Continuing, they explained that after returning to the others as though no time had passed, they all descended—now with every shard of Louis' heart purified—into the core of the spell and Louis' heart, called "The Box" by the other shards. There, they found one shard untouched by corruption or darkness: Love, which (they assumed) had been locked away and used as a power source for the spell. Having opened the doors, however, Mateus (Louis' esper) seized the opportunity to grasp the shard, aiming to claim this last bastion of Louis' heart and take over completely. At this, however, the Lady in Blue showed herself, and with the combined light and power of the other shards, returned them to Love, restoring Louis to his healed, unblinded self and locking Mateus into a forced stalemate of frozen power. Here, they described watching Louis come to terms with the only course of action left, saying his farewell to the Lady, Mateus' original prisoner, and shattering them both in order to free himself of the esper's dark bonds.
Before any celebrations could be had, though, the tainted abomination of Darkness swept in to the opening. Louis, attempting to give the fighters a solid form to destroy it with, absorbed the seed of darkness he'd previously accepted into his manifested form. The fight still transpired with horrific results: their powers used against them, their friends manipulated, the Darkness taunted and lashed out before finally crushing them with a terrifying combination of everyone's powers, amplified by Kyla.
A silence settled over the room as everyone latched on to that thought: the fact that, on their own, even as a group of over twenty combatants, they had lost, and not by some close margin.
The Earthlings then described the series of events they went through. Three questions, three trials. And each time, they heard a voice—the voice of one of their dearest loved ones, which they'd also heard each time they were pulled into the shadows in the previous fight. Sora, Riku, Joseph, Noelle, and Kyle however, mentioned different events: Sora and Riku had been trapped in an endless struggle against hordes of Heartless; Kyle had been similarly trapped, but followed a voice back to his station; Joseph went through a more complete deception that ended with meeting some unique spirit possessing his summon—which had shifted—before realizing his changed weapons and gifts; and Noelle mentioned her own sudden healing through the light that led to a similar meeting with a spirit, including changed gifts, only to then appear in Nicholas' heart in order to help him fight Chaos (who had been possessing him), exorcism the esper once and for all.
At this point, Nicholas was forced to chime in and explain his own situation. During the fight against the Darkness, he and a specter of Noelle had been fighting his personal seed of darkness, which had been fueling Chaos. Destroying it ended Chaos' possession, and allowed him to fight against the esper with Noelle, who had appeared in full. Once he was purged and Noelle was gone, Nicholas experienced his own Deep Dive, meeting a similar (though formless) entity as Joseph and Noelle, and getting his bardic gifts.
So the tale returned to the others. Most of them eventually realized the deception they were trapped within (Dawn in particular speaking up about only doing so after two), pushing past the illusions and returned to their hearts—where the voices continued their chant. Some—Jenny, Amy, Anthony, Sayrike, and Matthew—, however, had not figured it out before a strange flash of light pulled them back to their stations.
They explained the strange situation, the appearance of the Cornerstone, and the shouting and awakening of its light. They realized, then, that the voices—which had been whispering only the words ‘Wake up’—had been whispering not simply to them, but to the stone itself. Joining the voices, surging with their own light, and momentarily feeling a surge of strength gifted from the shadows that they could not understand, the Earthlings pushed their power outward and freed the Cornerstone from whatever had trapped it. Once again, just as before, it spoke, but its message shifted.
The natives, of course, experienced none of this; in their words, what they experienced was simply... unconsciousness, and an aching pain deep in their chests.
The fight was fairly simple from that point, they concluded. The revived in a column of light, also revitalizing their allies, and together they destroyed the abomination’s first form before diving deeper to destroy the seed at the core, where they were helped by glowing silhouettes of thousands and thousands of people. As the monstrosity died, to their amazement, it exploded into a storm of hearts—hearts which they were certain came from Earth. Afterward, some of them shared personal goodbyes with Louis before being pulled out entirely of his heart, the spell shrinking to nothing, and the shards unifying their powers to pull the body of Louis out of his heart, setting his existence right and merging once again as his body vanished into seemingly… nothing.
—————
In the midst of their discussions, Axel would have found himself oddly entranced by the Cornerstone, even in its dulled luminescence. Something "itched" within him; he could not place it immediately, and he would likely rationalize it as a Nobody's discomfort in the presence of something made of light. After all, perhaps he did not feel it before because, at full power, it would have "felt" more comforting.
Still, the itch remained.
Elsewhere in the castle, Demyx and Lexaeus would have felt a similar peculiarity. It was not painful or disruptive, but it captured their thoughts all the same. They would not be able to sleep. In fact, something about the itch almost felt like an ache—an ache they knew, without understanding, might be eased if they went into that great hall. Something about the stone gnawed at them; they were driven to see it.
—————
"That... is quite a tale," Yen Sid finally said, stroking his beard slowly. His eyes closed in deep thought before he softly gazed at the Earthlings. "Your bond to this stone is providing more questions than answers. Here, it began to stir in such a way that all throughout the town grew uneasy—very likely about the time you were attempting to awaken it. The Princesses had a keen connection, though, as it was only through their insight that we understood the stone's sleeping throes. When you awakened it, it burst with prismatic light, stretching across the sky; the young women gave forth their own power, and we all contributed. For the briefest of moments, we..."
He paused, searching for a word. The expression on his face was nothing short of stumped—a rare face for the sorcerer to have on any day.
"It was as if we were all connected. And then, just as suddenly, it simply... went out. The light dimmed, the barrier shrank... We knew you had won, though we know not how, but still we rushed to establish defenses," he said, his expression shifting to one carrying a tinge of regret as he turned to Noelle. "Especially given the events that transpired before, as Noelle has likely informed you."
"We had relied on the stone's defenses; indeed, its immaculate record of protection is why we are based here at all. The Geists, however, are apparently not touched enough by the Darkness to be fazed by the Cornerstone's light," he said, shaking his head. "For what has happened, I take personal responsibility. Such creatures I have never known, but more precautions should have been made nonetheless. Your Geist friend, Prote, has been kind enough to allow us to study his essence in the hopes of establishing a more impenetrable defense."
"For now, however... it is imperative that we restore the stone. This afternoon, we had thought perhaps the light was simply relaying some old prophecy; now, though, knowing the stone itself contains a consciousness, there is great concern for its well being," he continued, turning to the side so that he (and the others) could glance at its soft, delayed swirling.
"I know not what even to ask of you," he said, though it came out almost as a whisper. "The others are all pouring over countless books in the library, going through their own ancient knowledge. And you—you have all been through too much for one night, let alone one week. Thrown into a world of fairy tales..."
He sighed.
"There is much to consider, but perhaps... perhaps it is best that no decisions be made tonight. Given the blow you've dealt to the forces of darkness, we all highly doubt any assaults will come before the morning, if any time soon, and our forces are all deployed and prepared," he claimed, turning back to them. "Tonight, you are only required to sleep well. Still, if you have any questions, anything you feel must be voiced, feel free to speak up now. If none have anything to say, then we may depart."
[[ AKA one last round of optional chatter before we move on ]]
When the chairs appeared, Dawn remained close to Kyla with her chair arm to arm with Kyla's. The dancer couldn't ignore the feverish heat that came off of the girl. It worried her. While they discussed the nights events, Dawn took out one of her fans and fanned Kyla down gently. Since wind her wind wasn't working. She was doing it the old fashioned way. She only spoke up a couple of times during the whole time the discussion occurred.
"I almost wish it all was a nightmare," Dawn mused softly. She stopped fanning Kyla and rubbed her wrist with her free hand, before she switched her fan to her other hand and went back to fanning Kyla, before looking at Dani and Bobbi.
"Either of you got any ice or water you can spare for Kyla?" she asked the ice queen and water princess.
Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:05 am
{Bobbi, Zell, Nanaki .:. Disney Castle .:. Hall of the Cornerstone}
Bobbi sat perched on the edge of her seat, too afraid of accidentally drifting off to settle back comfortably. She was staring off into the Cornerstone like an over-glorified crystal ball throughout most of the discussion, only looking away when she spoke, and then she never met anyone's eyes. She wasn't sure when exactly she'd started crying, but tears were steadily dripping down her cheeks, though she wiped them away as fast as they came.
"Mm?" she hummed in distracted response to Dawn's question. "Oh, sure, hang on." Drying her eyes on the back of her wrist one more time, Bobbi peered at Kyla for a moment before she stood and headed over to the Pictomancer's side. She may not have been any kind of a doctor, but she knew a fevered flush when she saw one.
"Watch your hair, dear," she said, gently brushing Kyla's hair away from the back of her neck with hands that only shook a little. When the skin was exposed, Bobbi studied the shape, and formed a half-collar of ice to fit. She handed it to Kyla so the artist could place it on when she was ready. "Keep that on the back of your neck, it should cool you down."
Sometime during the explanation, Kyla would speak up briefly to clarify or comment but mostly she was keeping notes. Her book was back, adding foot notes to the plethora of illustrations that chronicled the event that occurred from her perspective- and filling in the gaps of information lost- not illuminated by other people’s accounts. Her hand shook, causing minor irritation as she tried ot sketch- but little by little she became aware of a cool breeze drifting over her from her side. It was Dawn, fanning her gently with her own bound weapon- now she used it as a simple normal accessory. It felt nice, but she felt the heat rush to her cheeks – “oh.. y-you don’t need to..do that.”
She began to stammer from embarrassment, but her smile spoke otherwise. She appreciated the concern, and truth be told it did feel nice. She kept this up despite Kyla’s insistence- “It’s ok I’m used to it.” that wasn’t a lie. Fever came and went all the time in her life. She was sort of used to it- still… The care didn’t end there.
As the conversation came to a close, Dawn called out for some ice and before Kyla could protest it was Bobbi who came over to them. The feverish artist looked up at her, focusing on the tear streaks on the bowmen’s face. Gentle hand brushed her hair aside and even they felt cool to the touch. Something was placed in her hands and through a grimacing smile she thanked Bobbi. She placed the ice about her neck without hesitation and relished in the sensation of the chill. She didn’t care if it melted, it just felt lovely against her skin and with the shock of the cold came a clearer sense of vision.
“Thank you Bobbi- Dawn. Really, I didn’t mean to worry you.” She said, feeling a pang of guilt, before closing her book. Her notes were taken, there was nothing left to say except making parting nicities.
Everything felt so far away whilst simple gestures were close. Like seeing people in mist- the solomness of the past events was still raw inside her and she felt for once- thankful for the fever to place a haze over everything. She couldn’t decide if it was the rawness of the events that made her feel sick and sore or the fever itself and eventually it didn’t matter. The day couldn’t end soon enough, and at the same time- she didn’t want to sleep. She feared what her dreams would be like.
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