Welcome to Gaia! ::

Time passed as the healing process continued, and finally the only outward reminders of what Earendil had been through were scars that lined his cheeks at regular intervals below his eyes.

Cael and Lancaeriel lowered their hands, and then Kyrie leaned in and dabbed at Earendil's forehead with a dry cloth. He was covered in a cold sweat not only from his ordeal but also from the healing process, and Kyrie proceeded to wipe it away.

He stirred at the touch, and his eyelids slowly fluttered open. He looked around, closed his eyes tightly, and then looked around again.

Earendil looked at his hand when Lin took it, and then his eyes followed her arm up to her face. He frowned when he saw her.

"You shouldn't be here," he murmured quietly. "He'll hurt you if you finds you ..."

He tried to push himself into a sitting position, but he was still too weak, and he groaned as he lay his head back against the floor.

Earendil's brow furrowed deeply. "Gone," he repeated. "He's gone?"

On the other side of him, Kyrie moved a bit closer, and Earendil jumped, startled.

"Earendil, there are some people you need to meet," she told him.

Earendil looked at her and frowned again. "If the General's gone, why are you whispering?"

Earendil turned his eyes back to Lin. "You sound like you shouldn't be ... but it's hard to hear you."

He tried again to sit up, and this time he managed to prop himself up on his elbows.

"It's like I'm underwater," he frowned. "Maybe it will get better once the fog clears."

Lancaeriel looked sharply at Cael, who was looking at Earendil worriedly.

Earendil blinked at Lin. "Don't you?" he asked softly, fear edging into his voice.

At the door, Andarien was trying to see past everyone. He could hear his father's voice, and he wanted to see him! He wanted to go in there and be with him!

"Nana, can we come in now?" he asked anxiously. "Ada's up, right?"

Earendil swallowed hard and looked around. "I see ... you, and Kyrie, and Lancaeriel ... and a lot of people I don't know ... no, I know Prince Cael ..."

He blinked up at Cael. "Prince Cael ..." he repeated softly.

Cael knelt next to Lin so that Earendil could see him more easily. "Prince Earendil, your wife is right, we need to know what you see and hear," he said clearly, raising his voice slightly above what would be considered a normal conversational tone.

Earendil looked from Cael to Lin. "It's like being underwater," he said again. "Everything is ... muted. Like there's something over my ears." He put his hands to his ears to feel if there was anything, and a troubled expression crossed his face when he felt nothing besides his ears.

Cael and Lancaeriel were focused on Earendil, but Kyrie looked back at Lin and shook her head grimly. She held up one finger in a one minute gesture, then pointed back at Earendil.

"And what do you see, Prince Earendil?" Cael asked again, just as loudly as his previous comment.

Earendil looked at Lin, and he felt his eyes tearing up. "Everything is foggy," he said in a shaky voice. He took a deep breath to control himself. "It's like ... being in a cloud."

And that was something he could say from experience, after their flight on Uruloki.