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 Posted: Sat May 10, 2025 3:56 pm
He hadn't wasted much time teleporting back home with Laven. With everyone safely back on Earth, he only spared time to ensure they were all back to the Queen. Upon looking to the sky, the clouds were parted and they could all see just how far away they were. Wolframite doubted he would look at that very spot of the sky the same way again. Space already was ruined in some way for him. He'd seen plant creature, ice fairies, a Wiseman, and all manner of outer-planetary enemy show from the world beyond Earth. And yet, having something hovering just in view felt worse. It meant it wasn't finished, and might never be resolved. It ruined the view.
But there were other matters more important than the blemish to the skyline.
Taking Laven in his arms, he excused himself from everyone and teleported away. He knew how to get home, and home they went.
On their lawn, he walked with purpose into the house and shut the door, before coming up the stairs and to their bed. There, he set Laven down gently among the nest of pillows, comforters and furs. Then, as carefully as he had practiced, he brushed her hair aside. "Laven, are you - alright?"
Her eyes were still - wrong. Deep pools of far off galaxies, flickering with passing comments and dying suns. Why wasn't it gone? She was back - but - was she HER?
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Posted: Mon May 12, 2025 7:42 pm
Lavendulan was like a lake sealed under a thin layer of ice. Aware of everything most things happening around her that were observable through other senses. But as Wolframite held her carefully against his chest, she remained still, distant, and unaffected. Then the murmurs silenced, and all she heard was his breathing as he carried her through their home. Familiar scents offered no measure of comfort as she looked forward unblinking. Though it might seem like she were looking at him, her gaze was set far beyond the walls of their room, further than their own galaxy. His careful touch, though gentle, cracked the ice and caused her to flinch. In that same moment, the terrifying image of the Dark Star passed through the earring that connected their minds. Haloed by a ring of crystals, purple lightning nearly identical to what had struck her down danced across the surface. It felt alive… hungry like the Calamitous Hollow but somehow unexplainably more. She blinked, and the image was gone. All that remained was darkness. Her head dipped forward as she tried to keep her thoughts and emotions in check. Though she couldn’t see his expression, Lavendulan could hear the concern in his voice, could sense the worry in his touch as if he thought she might break. Which may very well happen if she did not shield him from the terror she felt in that endless void, or the confusion and worry at being alive yet unable to see. “I should be dead…” Her voice was quiet and disbelieving. “Three times now…” In quick succession, memories flashed between them: a shark and bloody water, a frozen lake and a blurred image of a captain looking down upon her, and a streak of black lightning. “What…” Laven’s voice cracked, “What use am I if I can’t see?”
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Posted: Tue May 13, 2025 7:20 pm
The fact Laven could sense who is was and had control over there body was good news. It meant they weren't paralyzed or lost in some void that he couldn't reach. They were there, but their eyes were elsewhere. What glimpses he could see from their linked earrings shared images of distant galaxies and some Dark Star far away from here. To be looking out into that sort of voice, to feel that small, forced to look into the emptiness was a torture on its own.
So Wolframite tried his best to keep Laven grounded, here in the places that needed her. To the reminders of a home surrounding her, the soft luxuries that they had collected together, and the familiar smells that made up the little everyday things. Of breakfasts together and Laven's favorite lotion, the smell of her hair imprinted on her pillows.
He touched her gently, not wanting to spook her, but wanting to know that he was there. There when he should have been only moments ago on the battlefield.
When she spoke, it was to wonder why she was alive. "There is no should in that. Things happens. We live in a dangerous world. You lived. You lived three times. There is no should with death or living. It just is. And you are alive and that's what matters." If any officer thought too hard about how many times they should be dead, most would never put on a uniform again. It was a grim thought they all had, especially late at night before bed. The idea of death that clung to them like a cold sweat they could shake off. A guilt in being alive when so many weren't and the wonder of the justice and Fate of the world. Whatever belief in how things worked was usually the solace for most.
He kissed her cheek, but caught his breath as she said a phrase that sent him reeling back to years ago. His body went cold, staring wide-eyed as she looked back up, through him, with those glimmering eyes.
"No....no don't say - " But she had said it. The same thing he had said himself, back when he could see his vision leaving him as a knight. Even still when he lost one eye after Castor punched it ages ago. That he was blind, and being blind made fighting impossible. At least - usually.
He had made a trade. He had given himself back to the Negaverse, because he was a solider and he made a mistake. It was a blessing he got his vision back. The youma eyes were given to him to see once more. To work and return to his purpose.
But Laven hadn't been like him. She hadn't made some stupid mistake to end up like this.
"We'll find a way. We have Mauvians and magic and - " He knew there were no promises, but still. "- if there is any way in the world you can see again, I will find it. I will give you that back to you. Even if it means ripping out ever youma's eyes to see if they can work for you. Even if I have to give you one of mine. I will find some way to return it." And he meant it, with every fiber of himself.
But at this moment, Laven was blind, and there was no answer to this problem. It was just the uncertainty that she might remain like this forever and there might not even be a resolution to it at all.
He hugged her tightly, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. He knew the pain and loss from loosing vision, but never ever wished something like that on anyone.
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2025 5:22 am
Lavendulan closed her eyes and rested her head gently against his shoulder. “I’m sorry,†her words were barely above a whisper. I wasn’t thinking when I said that. The thought was passed through the earring they both wore. Grief and despair melded into a sort of numbness, a feeling so cold and empty it left no room for tears. But that did not stop her from leaning heavily into the comfort Wolframite offered to her. His arms around her were like an anchor keeping her from drifting out to sea, and like a castaway, she held onto him like a lifeline, clinging to the back of his uniform as if he might disappear, leaving her to sink into a darkness where only monsters dwelled. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden to him, which is why the thought of using her magic to turn into water and sit out in the sun, if only to see if it was possible to evaporate away, was difficult to push down. It wasn’t that she doubted Wolframite’s promise. That he would find a way for her to see again. But the idea of a Mauvian-made eye… or any eyes not her own… it made her stomach twist. However, if this were to become her new reality, Laven knew she might not get a choice. But that didn’t mean she was ready to consider those options yet. “I'm scared..." she admitted. "I can’t even tell if you’re hurt.†Nobody escaped that fight unscathed as debris and lightning fell down upon them when the shield failed.
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Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2025 4:36 pm
He felt his stomach drop and chest tighten, knowing that whatever he said or did wouldn't fully remove that fear. It was fresh, and would take time to settle. For now, he just had to be there, present, and kind. If she wanted to lash out at the world for this fate, at him too to direct some of it to a living target, he'd let her. If she wanted to scream and trash the place, he'd let her. If she wanted to lay in bed and cry, he'd let her.
But when it went for a while, that's when he'd be there to continue her forward. There would be no wasting away. He loved her too much to loose her to grief.
"Well, we still have the earrings. And, you can still talk and touch me." He said,
"I'm fine. A few cuts but nothing serious. You're a bit worse from wear. You should rest. We can take a bath together." And he continued to hold her, brushing her hair behind her ear and pressing his check to her own.
"It's going to be scary, but I'm here. You won't be going alone."
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