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[Sabra via Discord]

"I hope not." Azreal replied even though he had to pinch the bridge of his nose against the sickening sensation that tightened his stomach and made his vision swarm. "As long as you're real then I'm fine." Perhaps a smidge of a lie, but he was determined to hold through until they reached somewhere safer so that the menzuri couldn't catch them. Zakia had so many sisters living in the area, maybe they could go and get rid of that damn nest at some point. Azreal would be willing to help, but he doubted they would want an earthling to interfere with whatever the Aishans called hunting...his thoughts were all over the place as he continued after Zakia and towards the sound of water.

"Are you both okay?" Azreal asked after another moment as something akin to a glowing waterfall came into view through the haze. "That is you and Ista." Not that he was seeing two of Zakia, nope. Not at all.

[Sabra via Discord]

Azreal raised a brow. "If I was seeing hallucinations then I would be talking to myself and not to you, no?" He replied as he strode forward. Though he still did keep his distance instead of walking up even closer to see Ista. It wasn't as if he was an animal healer like others in his family, so it wouldn't help if he got too close especially if the radaku was already suffering. Plus, he needed to wash off as soon as possible to check over his own status of well being. He was just a bit too proud to admit to Zakia that perhaps, just perhaps something felt off. All he could do was hope that it was a mixture of the jungle's stifling humidity and heat with his own exhaustion from fending off so many creatures unexpectedly.

"There's an elixir?" At first the comment didn't register with him, but as soon as it did the question escaped before he could help himself. "That's convenient. I might need to study it if you have more?" A mixture of intrigue and potential need made him murmur the saying even though normally he would have tried to keep his mouth shut for a bit longer out of sheer pride. How could he admit to anything being off when he had reassured her that he would be fine? The very thought made Azreal shake his head. "After washing off though. Are there more strange crystal creatures in the water or is it safe enough?" He asked as they approached the waterfall, Azreal eyeing the emerald hued waters with interest. He knew the waters here would look slightly different, but these looked even more vivid than he had imagined before. He closed his eyes tightly again as he fought against the image of the waters rising up like some giant snake, the hybrid grounding himself in the moment before looking towards Zakia. This was fine, he was fine. "If it's safe then I'm going in. My attire is covered in all sorts of things that I do not want to continue carrying with me." Dirt, blood, green ooze, whatever else he had picked up along the way and after skidding across the ground during that fight...none of it pleasant to the sheltered mage.

[Sabra via Discord]

"I see. There are poisonous plants that grow up in the northern mountains which also cause hallucinations if ingested. It's not deadly but it will make anyone act differently for a few hours until it burns through their system. Are the menzuri like that? Just enough to distract their victims so that they can kill them? Not that the venom itself kills?" He'd seen a nasty prank with the plant with serious consequences for those involved. Even if the plants themselves didn't cause death like other poisons, there could be dangers from those who were hallucinating if they took a misstep or attacked another. The Sautian had nearly jumped from a balcony because they believed that they had sprouted wings...definitely not an ideal situation. He wasn't seeing wings, right? Azreal looked down at his arms and frowned. Nope, he was still stable enough if he was even suffering from anything.

The cave? The cave. Azreal had nearly forgotten the reason that they had headed in this direction in the first place. "This works." Thankfully the waters in Jahaur were a lot warmer than the rivers that Azreal was accustomed to dealing with in the northern countries. Though it did feel a bit colder when the spray touched him, perhaps his own skin was a bit more flushed than he was aware of. At least they made it safely through and could see the cavern on the otherside. True to most of the jungle there were glowing crystals that helped to provide some light despite the darkness of the underground. There was still light flickering in from the opening as well, it was actually creating dancing spots of light along the cavern walls as the water continued cascading down. Not that Azreal dared to focus on that at the moment for fear that he would see something else in the moving spots. "Hopefully the water will wash off our scent too if anything else was prowling around out there." No menzuri, no wild radaku, or anything else like that he hoped. Azreal dropped his bags on a dry area of ground and then moved towards the waters edge. He did wince as he moved without warning to untie his sash and then pull off his top, the mage stripping that and bending so that he could hold the material in the moving water. After a moment, his boots also came off as he splashed forward into the water with just his leggings on to try to rinse off any gunk from his skin as well.

Ah, there it was. Azreal winced again as the waters hit against something along his middle back where he couldn't see well. As loathe as he was to admit it there might have been a moment where he stepped forward to stop a menzuri from giving chase before the ice walls fully formed earlier. He had hoped the wind would have pushed it back in time but the slender scratch along his back said otherwise. It might have not been deep enough to be truly damaging, but it was just enough to cause his vision to blur here and there. Maybe some warm water could help dilute things? Azreal focused, bringing up that tiny spark he had recovered to warm the waters immediately around him just a bit more, but the sensation of shivers made him realize that his body was indeed feeling a bit feverish. "Zakia?" The name came out hesitantly because Azreal absolutely did not want to do this, not when he had promised himself he wouldn't worry her. "I may need you to check out something for me." The mage began as he slowly raised his eyes to look towards his companion. "My back might have a slight scratch...."

[Sabra via Discord]

"Never realized a hug could hurt so much." Murmured Azreal, all thoughts of their previous conversation leaving his mind as Zakia inspected his wound. He hated seeing that concern on her features, and for once he didn't have a sharp quip for her. His physical shape was fine, or at least should be because Azreal did plenty of physical training in order to boost his endurance for casting magic and for just keeping up with other members of his family in general, but at the moment he felt as flimsy as one of those rag dolls. "You would think I'm dying or something. You're too dramatic." He managed instead as she touched his forehead. "Though this does feel nice for being on death's door..." His voice trailed off, Azreal torn between pushing Zakia away or allowing her to stay because he knew that he would miss the touch. Even as he thought about it he found himself leaning back against her with a soft noise that would have destroyed him if he was in his normal mind. This was...dangerous. Did venom make things feel especially good? Was that how the menzuri conned their prey into sitting still while they ripped them limb from limb? He wanted to question it but words were getting harder as the colors began swirling again. Strange how now that they were in a safer place it felt like his body was finally giving out and the venom was really starting to kick in. At least he hadn't been a hindrance for their retreat.

"Elixir is good....you're good." Azreal mumbled finally as he tried to dodge away from her, the motion only making him nearly lose his balance in the water and stumble a step back so that he was completely pressed against her instead. The earthling tilted his head back, thankful that while he was taller than most earthlings that he was still shorter than Zakia so that he could rest on the pillows she had somehow provided however she had packed those with their supplies, and ever so innocently those stormy gray eyes took in her face. "You're beautiful especially with your antenna glowing like that. Did I ever tell you? More than any sunrise over the mountains or a crystal... That damn roati shouldn't be trying to kiss you either, not when it made me so angry. I wanted to be the one to...." His voice trailed off as his eyes fluttered closed and Azreal let out a soft sigh as some reality came through the jumbled words. "Elixir, back to the elixir. I might need to sit down soon..."

Was he lying down? Azreal couldn't seem to figure it out through the fog since his world was constantly shifting now. All he knew was that when Zakia broke away from a moment, he reached out for her desperate to keep that connection. He could make it through this, he would fight it...but dammit. What was even happening now? His skin was flushed, he felt so out of sorts that it was unnerving the part of him that desperately clung to whatever sanity he had left. Azreal winced as he tried to piece himself back together before finding lips against his own. What? His gaze immediately widened despite the haze as he simply stayed there, the mage finally swallowing before leaning forward a bit more. Whether he could remember returning the kiss before falling asleep against Zakia's shoulder would be a question for the morning but for now he simply waited out the chaos of the hallucinations while in the comforting embrace of the one he cared for.

[Azreal 20 - FIN]