Welcome to Gaia! ::

Celyn was pleased that Marius sat down, and was quick to join him.

“Maybe about ten minutes walking. Well, unless you use a passage that starts just about here, and then comes out on the other side. You wouldn’t have to take as long, but it’s really dark if the walls don’t light up. There’s a breeze that puts out any fires and anything powered by other means gets shorted out by Jupiter’s magnetic field. Or something like that. It might just be magic,” he mumbled, wiggling a little as he considered how few people he knew who could actually use the tunnels because they were always so dark and the lights glowed for very few.

He watched curiously as Dr. Eld continued to pace, and then, after scaring a few people away from a table, ended up dumping everything from his bag onto it, and then started repacking it.

“Is he always like that?” he leaned to Marius, wincing a little when Dr. Eld snapped at someone for looking at him and told them what they could do to themselves instead. “It seems exhausting.”

“Indeed,” Lucien sighed and spared a glance at Lukas, because he would likely know the best way to sedate the doctor without them all getting yelled at for it. He certainly wasn’t going to stick his paw into a bear trap.

“The walls light up for Devyn, so that won’t be an issue,” he shared, only because it seemed like important information in the decision of what parts of the map to draw. Normally he wouldn’t share personal things like that. But he knew for a fact, from Devyn’s mouth, that the lights of Sessrumnir had led him and Percy to safety before.

The corner of Lucien’s mouth twitched, a hint of amusement in his eyes, although it didn’t last with how dire the situation was. But it was clear that Marius had indeed spent time around Devyn to know his weaknesses.

“No, perhaps not. However, I do not expect the halls of Sessrumnir to hold any fondness for myself, as we are not fully acquainted. I have traveled there in the past, but the frequent humidity does horrible things to my fur.”

He leaned closer to the map to see what the boys were working on, making a mental note of everything.

“We will not let Devyn go by himself, although I am sure he believes he is enough. I am hoping to use this map to coordinate with Valhalla, once we make contact. If we make contact, although I would not be surprised if Percy’s brother makes it there before we do, due to proximity. To attack Sessrumnir, especially during Percy’s tenure, is truly a death sentence.”

Maybe that wouldn’t bring any comfort to the boys, but he had confidence that if Percy was still alive, that those involved in this attack would be made to thoroughly regret their decisions. How long they would live to regret, was another thing entirely.

Celyn glanced down at his wrist, although he was tempted to hide it. It wasn’t so bad, but if Marius was going to be with him, well… it would be nice if it stopped aching. Not that he knew what could help, but…

“Okay,” he agreed, because if Marius thought Dr. Eld could help, then he would try to not be scared. Not that he was going to get up and go by himself, but if Marius was going to lead the way, he would hide behind him.

“You’re worried we will slow Devyn down,” Lucien guessed, but it really wasn’t difficult when Marius looked the way he did. Besides, they knew what Devyn was capable of doing. Slowing him down would be a detriment to all.

“Think of it as… cleaning up,” he hummed thoughtfully, not sure he needed to explain to Marius and Celyn that anyone Devyn might not have had time to finish off may cause them problems if they were to escape. Perhaps some would be kept alive for interrogation.

“Devyn’s focus will be on getting to Percy. We will handle anything else to keep him from getting side tracked with… other tasks. Go, have Dr. Eld check on you. Calming him down would be good as he will be coming with us.”

And that was likely why he was so on edge, although Lucien didn’t think he needed to say it out loud.

Madison was muttering to himself as he reorganized his bag. He was making a couple notes, and then shuffling through various bags and containers he kept stashed away, deciding that he wanted them in another spot in his bag, so he moved them again.

He didn’t exactly jump when Marius spoke to him, but his reactive glare was quickly softened by Marius’ sad look.

“Oh, stop that!” Madison barked, but his voice was clearly weakened already by the expression Marius used on him, and he didn’t sound as forceful as he normally would have. He clearly didn’t intend on sending Marius away, but he also didn’t want to get flustered over those sad eyes.

He let out a frustrated sigh, and then when he realized Marius would probably scold him for scaring his little Sessrumniran friend.

“Oh, stop that,” he repeated, a bit softer this time and sighed again, in obvious distress but softer still. “Give me your hands. How did you manage to grab him so harshly, that’s not like you. Oh, unless you can’t run either -- I’m just saying that Percy sucks at running so maybe it’s a culture thing, how should I know?” he huffed before they could even speak.

Celyn was already terrified. They were barked at but then the doctor seemed to settle down a bit. Cautiously he held out his hands and winced as Madison turned them this way and that to inspect them, and tried not to pull his hands away when they were being prodded.

“It’s my fault. I wasn’t wearing shoes to run in and. Well, I’m not good with running, either. Marius saved me so it’s really okay.” He was grateful to Marius! He didn’t want him to feel bad. “It’s my fault for being there in the first place. I should have hidden with the others but I heard someone say Percy was going back to his room and I wanted to make sure he had tea or a snack or something since he forgets to eat sometimes.”

It wasn’t so much Madison’s faith in Marius’s abilities, but more like the lack of faith in Celyn’s. Marius was doing so much better than he had been previously. It was only a matter of time until he was well enough to be considered normal. He would likely never have perfect health, but he would be able to live a long, relatively comfortable life, as long as he didn’t run himself into the ground, or get himself killed.

Madison pulled out some ointment and quickly brushed it over Celyn’s palm before moving to his wrist. He tested it out again with his fingers -- light touches! He wanted to make sure nothing felt like it was out of place or swelling, but it was probably just bruised. He placed a loose wrap around Celyn’s wrist.

“You’ll need to be careful with moving it for a while. It shouldn’t stop you from doing normal activities, but no lifting anything heavy with that hand,” Madison huffed, and then eyed Marius again as if trying to make sure there was nothing else that was ailing him.

Celyn mumbled a polite and quiet thanks when Dr. Eld finished up with his wrist and hand. The ointment he’d put on his palm was cool and soothed the burn, and the light wrap he placed over his wrist also felt like it was cooling. Maybe to help with any swelling and bruising.

“There aren’t too many things for kids to do there when there’s no classes to take,” he shrugged because it was embarrassing and he hoped it wasn’t that big of a deal. “But as long as I stayed inside and away from the springs, I didn’t get in trouble.”

“It was!” Celyn quickly defended, but then realized his voice was maybe too loud (despite still being quiet) and lowered it further. “I mean… they have nurseries for parents with kids, and there were a lot of activities for kids to do when I was little. My grandfather was always busy, though. And my parents were always out on their research expeditions. So I had to entertain myself a lot of the time. Oh, but that was mostly before Percy was a Knight,” he added, not wanting Marius to think that he was trying to say anything bad about Percy. He wasn’t! He was just a kid with a lot of energy and wanted to explore and didn’t have anyone to safely do it with.

Madison just rolled his eyes. He had better things to do than listen to this kid talk about his sad life in a perfect little Wonder with its books and lack of war and famine and whatever else could go wrong.

He shrugged at Marius and then waved his hand to dismiss whatever sentiments Marius was voicing.

“Yeah, yeah. Just stop getting hurt,” he huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “You haven’t heard anything from Atrius or Virgil yet, have you?” Madison then barked across the lobby at Lukas. He was clearly agitated and standing around was doing nothing to help him.

Celyn also looked at Dr. Eld in alarm when he yelled across the lobby for Lukas, who seemed to always be working so hard, even in the short time since Celyn had met him. He could understand being stressed, but Dr. Eld seemed to be stressing himself out more than necessary.

“Um… I think we should go back and keep working on that map,” Celyn quietly suggested, if only to give Dr. Eld more space. Who was now hissing curses under his breath and looked like he was going to start pacing around again.

“I need more supplies,” he announced and turned to storm off towards one of the nearby hallways, once again making people quickly move out of his way.

“He may always seem volatile like that, but don’t let him fool you. Dr. Eld is a skilled tactician and brilliant field medic,” Lucien offered the two a small smile as he approached after Dr. Eld stormed off.

“Once there’s something to focus on, everything clicks into place. I know you’ve had some experience with him, Marius. There’s a reason why he’s still the most trusted doctor around. Certainly the only one allowed at the Hall and preferred in Arista. Even if people are put off by his usually poor attitude, I don’t think they would trust anyone else with their health.”