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 Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 2:24 pm
They were talking about magic when he returned.
The topic was obviously something Rakovanite couldn't relate to at all. Even after his promotion, his weapon hadn't been upgraded to produce any kind of magical flare, as some agents did. He had no spells to utilize. He had no world to call his own. His namesake was just a rock discovered by some researcher in Miami. The universe had decided he wasn't special enough for more than that.
And since he had been graced with the affliction of Narcissus' magic before (something the senshi clearly had no concrete idea of how to explain), Rakovanite took it into his own hands to describe.
"It feels like a sort of hollowness in your chest," he rumbled, settling close to the ground to splay out one of the remaining blankets. "A sort of black hole dug out from wanting something that does not want you in return. It feels like longing and betrayal and heartache, and like if you could be more, you might encourage that thing, whatever it is, to want you as you want it."
But rationally speaking, Rakovanite knew better. He'd never been keen to chase what wasn't interested in him, and he'd long since stopped being willing to put forth any investment into anything that wasn't immediately doing the same to him. He did not want to waste effort where it wasn't warranted. He did not want to suffer needlessly. And he had accepted that people not really seeing things as he did was just how it was going to be, since he wasn't going to go through the strain of changing himself into something fake.
"It would be foolish to chase a potential ally away," he said blandly in response to Narcissus' thanks. "Another set of eyes or hands or a working mind will do us less harm than good, I hope. So if you have concerns... If you get tired, if you need anything I can assist with... let me know." The words were quiet, but clear. And they had only barely left his mouth before Rakovanite was laying on the blanket and putting his back to the other two in the room.
He'd said what he needed to say. They didn't need to try and do anything more that night. Perhaps the way forward would be more clear in the morning.
---
Cervantite watched as his older brother settled on the ground in front of the fire, something uncomfortable building in his chest as Rakovanite spoke.
He'd always chased Nataniel's approval, always wanted the sort of big-brother-little-brother relationship that siblings on tv had... But Nat had always been distant and sour and unrelenting in his distaste for Ellian. There was just nothing he could do about it. And now they were grown and living apart and farther away than ever-
In everything except this magical world.
But Cervantite swallowed the uncomfortable sensation down, tamping it back because he knew he didn't want to dwell on it here, with Narcissus sitting between them. He still wanted what he'd always wanted... And he felt like somewhere in all of this, a resolution was approaching. Just not here and not right now.
His smile wasn't quite as bright as he turned back to Narcissus, but it was still present.
"That makes sense, then, doesn't it?" He asked after Rakovanite had described the attack. "If your sphere is rejection, your magic makes someone feel like they've been told 'no' in like, a bad way. But it should! It is an attack. It's what you're supposed to use to defend yourself, since you won't get any weapons like the agents or knights. Maybe it's not a survivalist spell that can catch food or start fires, but it'll help keep you surviving through a fight I bet." He shrugged. "That is what it's supposed to do."
"Anyway, I'm sure it's fine. If we get ambushed by the White Moon tonight, you can use it to fight 'em off until me and Rak get on our feet."
Cervantite flopped to the ground, folding his arms behind his head and laying on his back as he stared at the crumbly, creaking ceiling. "I'm glad we found you," he said. He and Rak could have made it through the night, but Cervantite would be fighting with him the whole time...
"Having you here to help, uh, settle the vote really helps, I think. After a quick rest, and the night to think on what we should do, I bet the morning will be better. You'll see."
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Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2021 5:41 am
Narcissus had apologized almost right after he'd cast his magic on Rakovanite. He wasn't trying to hurt or upset anyone, but he'd been scared. Even if Rakovanite hadn't been trying to kill him, he was certainly being unreasonably rough. They might think it was fine. His attack did what it was supposed to do: fend off 'enemies.'
...But Narcissus didn't want to be the one attacking anyone. He swallowed as he stared at Rakovanite's back. "I really am sorry," he whispered. "I-I didn't mean to hurt you..." He thought he should maybe try and reassure him somehow, maybe pat his shoulder or pet his hair, but it felt like it would be ill-received. Narcissus wasn't getting very strong vibes that Rakovanite wanted much from him besides that he please just keep watch while they rested.
He could do that.
Narcissus turned back to Cervantite and gave a determined nod. "You two do your best to prepared for tomorrow. Even if nothing changes, at least you'll be alert and rested enough to start looking for solutions. If anything does happen in the night, I'll wake you."
As his new companions settled in and made themselves as comfortable as possible, Narcissus did the same. He settled just his legs beneath one of the blankets and propped himself up against a wall, facing them. The fire's warmth was a little farther away here, but he could still feel the heat, still watch the flickering lights. He slid one of his physiology textbooks from his space pocketed and situated it on his knees in front of him. If he was going to be awake all night, anyway, he may as well do what he usually did...
It just would've been nice if there was caffeine involved.
There was no telling how much time had passed with him seated like that, reading, but he was sure it was a few hours. Outside was completely dark, the two with him were breathing evenly as they slept, the fire had dimmed a bit, the wind kicked up dirt against their shelter, and tree leaves rustled-
Something else moved outside.
Narcissus lifted his head to peer at the window as an almost indescribable shadow skated across the pages of his book. His body tensed immediately, and his gaze held fast on the cracks in the window boards. Something rumbled. It sounded large and heavy. A huff of air smacked into the door, and fear jolted up Narcissus' spine.
Something was out there, something was out there! Should he wake Rakovanite and Cervantite? Should he wait and see if it-
Claws scrabbled against the door to accompany the heavy breathing, and Narcissus nearly jumped out of his skin. It wasn't a forceful, loud sound, but it was still obvious that the thing was suddenly interested in getting into their shelter. He could see none of it, but he heard the sounds it made: long claws that dragged down their door, heavy footfalls in a gait not dissimilar to that of a person, loud breathing, and an enormous shadow.
The claws scrabbled a bit more forcefully, the rumblings became something like snarls-
Narcissus felt suddenly very compelled to make it seem like no one was here. He didn't know if it was a creature that lived here or if it was something magically summoned, but he found that he desperately did not want it to know something was in this building. He scrambled toward the fire, trying desperately to silently lift one of the pokers to scrape ash over the last embers and snuff out the light, so that it couldn't see that something was obviously in here.
His heart was thundering.
Could it break in? What would it do if it could? Could he stop it?
He heard it sniffling, scrabbling, scratching, but it didn't seem to be using its weight to break in. Narcissus had the impression that it could do more than it was doing, but it was simply experimenting, now. Testing to see if there really was someone in there before it exerted too much effort.
And then, very abruptly, something clattered elsewhere, like a door opening somewhere nearby in the village. The beast released a loud huff, and Narcissus could hear it pulling itself to attention toward the sound. It thundered away with a guttural sort of noise, toward the clatter, and that was when Narcissus had the thought that it hadn't been sent to seek out this house specifically.
It had been drawn here because of the fire, the smoke from the chimney, and the scraps of light it could see through the boards. But it sounded like it would attack anything that it saw moved.
There was a monster in the village, looking to hunt.
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