Welcome to Gaia! ::

Fluorapatite had been sitting at the base of a tree with her head leaned back against the rough textured bark. Its dull jab paled compared to the sharp migraine that felt like someone was poking her temple repeatedly with a pointed needle. However, since powering up, she began to feel some slight relief from the insistent pain.

Much like every other day, Yifei had woken up with a mild headache. Not at all uncommon in these last six to eight months. But the increased intensity of them was making IB Proufen less and less effective. Not even an ice pack on her head, while she tried to take a nap, would offer her any measure of relief.

There were multiple times she had considered bringing this up to her General, but something told her that he would not be so understanding and would likely call her weak for trying to get out of energy gathering. Which couldn’t have been far from the truth because energy seemed to be the only thing that curbed this nauseating sensation. Something she had learned by accident after taking just a bit from her gathered quota after a rough battle with a knight and only then did she experience true relief.

When Fluora sensed another signature approaching, she opened her opalescent colored eyes and with effort rose to her feet. It was an unsteady motion, and if there had been anyone nearby to see, she might have looked drunk by the way she leaned against the tree for support.

Once it seemed the world had finally stopped spinning, Fluorapatite drew in a few steady breaths then turned towards the blond-haired corrupt. She spoke her greeting and Fluora looked at the girl with a confused expression as if she were trying to process what had been said. Nobody, aside from her General, had taken the time of day, or night in this case, to speak with her which is why this interaction felt so foreign if not strange.

“Fluorapatite,” she responded after a long moment’s pause. “Senshi of Static, I believe-.” The name of her magic suggested as much, as did their effects. “Your uniform-” soft pink and jade-green eyes looked Lazurite over. “It is lovely.” The tea and black butterfly motif went well and seemed to fit the theme of nectar.

Although Lazurite was likely speaking at a normal speed, this migraine was making it incredibly difficult to keep up with what she was saying. It was like speeding down a freeway going over 70 miles per hour; everything outside passes in a blur motion and sound of white noise. But there are brief moments when something, a sign maybe, would catch her eye and everything for a brief moment would slow down as if it was a stop motion image.

Still, she tried to hide the discomfort she was feeling and focus on keywords such as, friend Now that’s a word she hadn’t used in a long while now, not since she realized that neither friends nor family recognized her when she stood in front of them, wearing the same jogging outfit she wore when going on trail hikes. Fluora supposed that other people might have similar attire, but a part of her had still hoped someone would have recognized her and called her by her previous name.

But it seemed like nobody was out there looking for her; at least not anymore.

Patrol Partners now that felt like a foreign concept since, aside from the one time she had run into a lieutenant that had picked a fight with a Squire a couple of months back, nobody ever offered to accompany her, nor did they ask if she would come along. Aside for quota deliveries, not even her General went out with her which made her believe that they were supposed to go out alone.

“You can-.” For one reason or another, rather than feeling enthusiastic or gladdened by making a connection with another corrupt, she felt distant from the situation. She squeezed her eyes shut and applied pressure to her right eye with the heel of her palm. “You can call me Fluora, that’s fine.” Her voice sounded strained but she nodded her head, a motion that nearly made her sway.

“Forgive me, I’m not-” when she opened her eyes, it looked like the world was leaning heavily to one side and only when her knee hit the ground did Fluora realize that she was falling. “I’m not… feeling well-”

“I- I can’t…”

Over the course of the last several months, Fluora had spent an increasing amount of time while powered. One to two hours extra here or there to the point that there were evenings where she was out for almost nine hours at a time. At first, it had been out of obligation, requirements passed down to her from the General that made sure she stayed in line and complied with the weekly quota that was set in place. Seemed excessive at first, but with nothing else to do with her free time, it had gotten easier to gather what was demanded of her.

Until it wasn’t…

“I’m sorry I-” The Senshi of Static leaned her forehead against Laz’s shoulder for stability. “Powering up… Usually, it helps. Not today though-” As the hour passed it felt like she was becoming more fatigued, more dehydrated but it wasn’t water she needed.

Energy

This wasn’t something that caffeine or food could fix, not when it felt like she’d throw up if she ate anything. And yet… Energy… A thought not her own and yet incredibly insistent. Gather- For Metallia-For me

Fluora held up a shaky hand and summoned her quota from earlier; it was a paltry amount that was no larger than the size of a birthday candle flame. But at least it was something. Without asking, or thinking much about her soon-to-be actions, she consumed the pea-sized orb knowing that without this, she very well might faint right here. General Xithricite could scold her for it later.

For a long moment, or four, she just closed her eyes and focused on breathing while willing this migraine into something more manageable. “I’m sorry, Lux- You had the unfortunate luck to find the most broken of us.” She assumed so anyway since even her General kept her at an arm's length away.

Once more she tried to power down and this time it seemed to work. That punishing stabbing sensation behind her eye seemed satiated by the small amount of energy she had taken from the quota that was supposed to be turned in later this week. No matter, like before she’d make up for it later.

“I’m sorry,” Yifei spoke softly, ashamed of her weakness.

All she could consider was that the rising heat was somehow contributing to her worsening condition. “I’m sorry-” For eight months now she had nobody to rely on, not even the General she had been assigned to would spare a second glance in her direction after taking what was owed. One might call him a b*****d behind his back but he played the role of ‘boss’ rather expertly. Which meant that under no circumstances would he come to her house to check on her if she was sick; he’d just want to know how long until she’d be back to working and leave it at that.

“I just need to get home…” The last thing she wanted was to be a bigger burden on someone she’d just met; despite her generosity and resources at her disposal, it felt almost impossible for her to accept help at this point.