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| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/SeventhMovement|Seventh Movement]]
| + | #REDIRECT [[ADanceOfAngels]] |
| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/DanceOfAngels|A Dance of Angels]]
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| − | == Shattered Souls ==
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| − | Spire...
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| − | Where a fight for the existence of every living being within its walls is being waged.
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| − | And it did show.
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| − | A whole neighborhood has been blown to rubble, seared, turned into steaming ashes by the actions of Calobis' creatures. The library in the Palace of Timeless Winters has been painted in blood. A mystical neighborhood has been covered in webs and shadows by a Hekatonkire Spider. And now, elsewhere, Prince and Princess, Immaculate and Punk all fight against death...
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| − | And the Snow Monkey rushed to the Winlandian Army's clinic in Spire, a great building that had once been an office of welfare. A seven-store building connected to others by three sky-bridges - two now destroyed. Staffed by their best healers - what Elementals with healing capabilities the Winlandians could summon(Demons are not something usually employed by the Winlandias, as unlike the Realm, Sorcery is widespread in the land of wings, and thus, it is kept safe), and their best Exalted healers.... the Elementals, particularly the White Lilies, cooperated with the one Wood-Aspected Dragon-Blooded - from Luthia, of course - on the army, and had woven a net of creeping vines all over the building... from the outside, it looked like a gigantic garden. But it helped... flowers that inhaled infections and viruses, breathing old pure air. Glowing liquen making for a soothing, low light. Able to change color to call doctors to rooms or the lobby with a complicated key of hues and intensities. And a very pretty and refreshing enviroment amidst all the beds, the maimed, the hurt and dying...
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| − | And now, it lay filled with smoke, a corner of it blown to little bits, filled with dead birds. The vines and the white lilies tried their best to clean the air and assimilate the bodies... and there is almost no smoke within as Snow Monkey returns, smeared with the disgusting blood of a dead spider, with a legendary thaumathurge in hand...
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' Midway through Monkey's trek back to the clinic, the raksha conqueror had shed its warbody, leaving behind a torn, bloodied and weary raksha, carrying both the target of his quest as well as Leonas. Even in his present state, his steps are strong and his pace steady, not betraying the very real and very immense pain he's starting to feel, now that the battle-high has worn off. As soon as he is close, Snow Monkey bellows:
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| − | "Healers! I need healers at once for my passengers!"
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| − | Days keeps marching on once he's done, not waiting for a reply.
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| − | '''Ryshassa: '''Ryshassa sits on a stool between Iselsis and Fiona's beds. Monev lies on another nearby bed; he, too, does not escape the healer's notice, resting as he likely is after being burned by Iselsis' flames. All three of them have been resting the entire time since she has been watching them, and neither Iselsis nor Fiona have awoken since Days and Leonas have left.
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| − | This of course has brought Ryshassa quite a bit of worry, but she has healed them as much as she has the strength and ability to do so. So now she simply waits, allowing her body to rest and recuperate until Days brings back the thaumaturgist Leonas spoke about.
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| − | Hearing Days' voice -- it was hard to mistake him for anyone else, really! -- hollering down the corridor, Ryshassa rises quickly to her feet to meet him. "There are enough empty beds, just lay them down... and you! You're hurt as well!" she says almost accusingly to the fae. "What just happened while you were away?"
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' "Ah! Well, I ran into a little spider problem along the way." Days smirks, then promptly winces as that makes his neck-flesh move a touch more than he'd like. "In any case... beds." As he goes about carefully setting the two down, Days chuckles a little to himself. "This is mostly from me and whatever had possessed Fiona... I'll be fine, just need time."
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| − | '''Leonas Du Mistlav: ''' Leonas opens his eyes, slowly... waiting from faintings moments before Ryshassa's question, his flesh and wings cut in several places by the sharp strands... "... we met one big spider..."
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| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' "....Well.... if you say so..." Ryshassa only leaves Days be because she does not have all that much personal experience with fae, and he very well could be well in an instant. And he was well enough to travel there with the others, so why not... "Wait. Spider problem? I would hazard a guess it was much more a large problem than a small one..."
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| − | "...Leonas!" Ryshassa gasps as he faints dead away. Frowning worriedly, she nearly rushes to help him first -- ''but the thaumaturgist, I must heal that one so he can save Fiona... '' Shaking her head, Ryshassa positions herself between their beds, and reaches towards both of them at once, a hand on each arm. No matter how wounded they are, she must at least lend them enough of her strength that they are stable!
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' Monkey watches in silence, rubbing his neck and quietly gritting his teeth together. His tail twitches and jerks, giving away more of his actual 'situation' than the rest of his body language dares to. "I have never see you in action, lady Ryshassa... let's see your Will."
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| − | '''Ryshassa: '''Ryshassa nods quietly to herself, Days' words only half registering in her mind now that her mind is fully on the task of healing. The thaumaturgist -- who at closer look is obviously a lady, not a man -- is not at all deeply hurt, merely stunned. Shocked perhaps by this "spider" both Days and Leonas mentioned.
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| − | ''It couldn't have been any ordinary spider, not by far. ''
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| − | Leonas is more deeply hurt, but not immediately dying, much to Ryshassa's relief. But that does not mean she cannot ease some of his pain, and it would not take long. It is almost an indulgence for her, to allow her pain senses to travel through the touch of her hand on his skin... experiencing the sting of every laceration on his body, as real as if whatever had cut him had pierced her own flesh as well. Every injury both major and minor, laid out like a map to her nerve endings.
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| − | Ryshassa smiles to herself, for that quiet communion of pain that is the redemption of her existence -- her ability to understand pain, and to bear it for others. In the space of seconds it manifests, and the sting of sympathetic pain becomes real, bruises flowering across her pale, delicate skin as several of Leonas's wounds quickly close.
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| − | That finished, her next priority looms large -- to wake the thaumaturgist so that she can ease Fiona's critical condition. Not one to use rude or sudden methods of rousing, she leans down towards the thaumaturgist's bed, resting the fore and middle fingers of each hand on either of her temples. Massaging them gently, Ryshassa stimulates the nerves leading to the other woman's brain, coaxing her towards consciousness.
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| − | '''Leonas Du Mistlav: ''' Leonas coughs when she is over, gasping for air... and feeling, feeling as if the weight of the world had lifted from his shoulders... the insensitive parts on his wings begun to feel once again, the blood stopped forcings its way out of his body... and the scholar lets his head rest on the pillow, almost passing out... "... now, this is much, much better... thank you, Ryshassa..."
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| − | The woman, on the other hand is... unresponsive. Still cold, her body still limp from the Spider's machinations...
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' "She'll need time..."
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| − | That's all Monkey says as he walks over to Fiona's bed and... kneels next to it, simply looking at her as she rests, expression suddenly thoughtful. "... you have many, many questions to answer for me, Sunchild."
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| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' Ryshassa shakes her head. She had thought the woman was merely passed out, but no... there is more to it than that... more than merely a loss of consciousness. Keeping her hands on the woman's temples, she frees herself momentarily from the bonds of her own flesh, projecting herself spiritually into her mind.
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| − | She appears in the thaumaturgist's mind clothed in a gown of twilight, shades of fiery sunset clouds at the shoulders and torso, shifting dramatically from the waist down into the blues and violets of dusk, diamonds twinkling along the gown's slender skirt like the first stars of evening. A golden aura surrounds Ryshassa's spirit body as she opens her mouth to speak, the words carried on the wings of purple blossom butterflies, fluttering deeper into the thaumaturgist's subconscious thoughts:
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| − | ''Open your eyes. You are needed in the waking world. ''<br>
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| − | ''Whatever horrors you have seen have been long laid to waste. ''<br>
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| − | ''Here, it is warm and safe. You will awaken in a bed of flowers. ''
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| − | Ryshassa's mind-voice is a caress soothing the sharp edges of the thaumaturgist's consciousness, the tenderness of a lover coaxing his beloved to greet the morning.
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| − | "Awaken," she whispers.
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| − | '''????: ''' The woman opens her eyes... and they shine. Little motes of essence radiate from her eyes, which are pools of essence... of pure, raw essence. She gets up slowly, shivering... and then her gaze turns to Ryshassa, who feels something of... an opressive light washing over her, something almost pushing her back... "What is going on? Where am I? Where..."
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| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' Ryshassa steps back slightly -- those eyes... ''what manner of person is she? '' But she focuses on the question, answering promptly: "I am Ryshassa Krauser, a healer. This is the Winlandian army's clinic in Spire. You have been taken here by the Child of Wyld Days." The healer gestures towards where Days is now with Fiona.
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| − | "The girl there is Fiona. I am unsure what Leonas told you, but she is in need of your help. Her essence needs... reorganization. I'm not sure how else to explain it, but I am told one who is knowledgeable in essence flows would be able to set her right."
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| − | "I hate to impose on you so soon after you have awakened... ah..." Not knowing a name to call her, Ryshassa just presses on. "But Fiona is in a critical condition and she needs help as soon as you are able to do so."
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' Days continues to simply... look at Fiona. Something's weighing heavily on his mind, and it's hard to tell exactly what it might be. So all there is to behold is a meaningful stare and silence, Monkey's tail occasionally patting the ground between his boots.
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| − | '''????: ''' She looks at Ryshassa, her mouth opening to let out the same essence....
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| − | "Leonas?" She asks, face utterly blank....
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| − | And Leonas himself sits on the bed, "Hm... I did not tell her anything. She was in out when we came there, Ryshassa... and I have never met Archren, the Frozen Firefly before... I only know of her reputation. Still... you are on the Winlandian clinic, m'lady. This is Ryshassa Krauser, this is Archren, I am Lieutenant Leonas du Mistlav. And that is a person whose essence-aligning chakras have been utterly broken."
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| − | The woman looks at the Solar... seeing the patterns of Pandemonium washing over her...
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| − | "Well, I'll be... I was meaning to meet the clinic sooner or later, but... was that a Virdynn? What happenned with her? That is Pandemonium, right? Why is the Hunter Knight of Avia of Birds as a broken semi-material thing there? Who's the cooked demoness? And what in Malfeas' name is that monkey doing here?"
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| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' "I see... So your name is Archren. I am sorry we have had to meet in such circumstances, Lady Archren."
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| − | Looking up again after her quick bow, Ryshassa can only supress a laugh... if Leonas had really been able to tell her nothing, this must look a great deal bewildering to her. "Yes, a Virdynn possessed Fiona, and some of our allies were able to chase it out of her, but it seems to have had a lasting effect on her."
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| − | "The Hunter Knight, as you call him... well, I don't really know why he is here either, I think to kill someone... but Seventh Moon and Prince Alexander gave him quite the convincing argument to join us. The 'cooked demoness' is Iselsis; she would probably be able to tell you better. She is the one that nearly killed him."
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| − | She leaves it to Days to speak for himself, since after all, he is still conscious. And she has a feeling her story wouldn't be nearl as good as his, anyway.
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' Monkey looks up at Archen, evenly, calmly.
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| − | "I need Fiona. She is broken. Fix her."
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| − | "... please."
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| − | '''Archren: ''' She did not look to Ryshassa twice, and did not reply to Ryshassa being sorry, simply taking in all their words...
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| − | And then getting up, a bit shaky, touching her forehead - where a hearthstone lays - and bringing out little stars... that fall on each and every important piece of Fiona's essence make-up. Days would recognize some of those points as being akin to Grace-spots. "Hmmm. Now, a humble fae. That is a new one..."
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' "It's not really humilty. Just a urgent need to make sure she does not die." Monkey watches the woman work, hesitantly pulling back some. "She has something that I need to know about, hear about, and I shan't have her dying on me before I get to it."
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| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' A hard look crosses Ryshassa's face, unseen by Archren who has already gotten up. It rankles her to be treated as insignificant, especially after extending her help and showing politeness, but that is part of her work, she supposes...
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| − | ...not everyone will be thankful. As always, she simply resolves herself to accept it. Swallow it down. And remain silent.
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| − | Sighing softly to herself, Ryshassa allows her expression to relax, and walks towards Iselsis's bed. If this Archren is as good as Leonas had said, she should be able to help Fiona easily. Looking down at Iselsis's sleeping face, she wonders when Lady Aine's sister will finally emerge from her rest...
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| − | '''Archren: ''' "Ah, I see." Slowly, the stars sink on Fiona's flesh, and Archren sinks her hand into Fiona's chest in a glow of light... pulling out, disentangling strings, placing them like the garden of her Manse.... "The need for knowledge, always a commendable thing, even for a fake such as you."
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' Days visibly winces at 'fake'---sure, he'd been called worse by more sinister folks, but at the moment and time is felt all the more damning. He opens his mouth, looking ready to protest... and then shuts it, instead rising and resuming his task of just watching Fiona. Deep down, though, he was upset---maybe angry, but mostly upset because he couldn't say anything in his defense.
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| − | '''Iselsis: ''' Which is when Ise opens her eyes. She doesn't move, or anything, and her pupils are wide. Wider than they should be, as if her eyes are open, but she's not seeing... not seeing anything at all. A hand snaps up and grabs Ryshy's arm, squeezing painfully, as if the girl had somehow lost control of her sense of strength.
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| − | There's nothing behind her eyes, Ryshy can see. There's no presence. If the eyes are the window to one's soul, then whatever lies beyond Ise's is pitch black.
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| − | A wind picks up, slight at first, but in seconds the sheets are being moved by it, and the room filled with a sort of... heat. Light too seems to suddenly bend differently, the room's colors suddenly in a much starker, vivid light, despite there being nothing that glows.
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| − | Her head slowly turns to regard the healer with those blank eyes. Movements almost mechanical.
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| − | She speaks one word: "''Where...? ''"
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| − | '''Leonas Du Mistlav: ''' "The fake is the one who battled an army of spiderlings and a giant Hekatonkire to save your life."
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| − | ''And if I am right, he may have saved us all... if the Spider did what I was thinking with you... ''
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| − | "So you might try being ni... oh." He stops, looking at Iselsis, startling for a moment.
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| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' Ryshassa lets out a sharp breath. If not for the fact she has made herself so accustomed to pain despite her frailty, she might have been much more hurt. Instead she lets Iselsis hold on for as long as she has to.
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| − | "You are back in the clinic, Iselsis. I healed you from being caught in that explosion... the one that wrecked part of the clinic. You were badly burned and near death. We brought you here after the one made of birds was... ah... dealt with..." She does not quite want to say it out loud, that the Knight of Avia is lying right there in a bed next to her. Still alive. And on their side.
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| − | '''Iselsis: ''' There is a response. It just wasn't what anyone would've expected...
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| − | Things suddenly happen, one right after the other. First Ise's hair starts glowing like red hot embers - except the wrong color; green - then come alive with flame... and growing, long. Not Ise's cute short crop style, long tendrils of flaming hair. And, in contrast to her hair darker flames creep out of her, enveloping her body, burning the bed, the sheets, and searing Ryshy's Kimono as she floats up.
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| − | "''Iselsis? ''", she almost seems amused at the remark.
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| − | She lets go then, sparing Ryshy further injury. Lets go and suddenly floats up into the air, arms akimbo, upper arms along her torso, palms turned upwards as she tilts into an upright position, the hair and green flames licking around her, as if they were swimming through the air.
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| − | "''Iselsis... ''"
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| − | She smiles thinly at the healer, bemusedly.
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| − | "''She is not home right now. ''"
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| − | * The wisps of flame fly from her... visible air-currents, flaring too brightly to be looked at, carrying in their light a searing viridian flame. Leonas watches it, confused... wings twitching open, as if something on the back of his mind, from his bird-like instincts, was screaming at him to run the hell away from there. But he did not - in fact, he barely moved, still waiting, making no overt moves...<br><br>Whereas Archren stopped on her work, as one of the wisps burnt the tail end of her hair. She did not stop, hands disentangling metaphorical strings on Fiona still... but the flames... were coming close. Far too close, and she could not survive being burned in her clothes... "You. Pretty monkey-thing. I cannot stop now. If you can do anything to prevent me from burning alive do it, if the girl means this much to you."
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' Monkey takes a long, looong moment to stare at the burning, and doesn't even think twice, given the situation. He needed to act, and he needed to act '''now'''. Without thought, without consideration, without even really bothering to notice the frailty on the bonds holding his Valor together, Monkey interposes himself between the living and the burning, while trying his damndest to draw upon the winds that make up his being.
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| − | "I shouldn't be doing this.... I really shouldn't..."
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| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' Ryshassa, being closest to Iselsis -- or Iselsis' body, at least, obviously possessed -- is the first to be washed over by the wave of flames. Her kimono seared, the silvery-white cloth with its floral embroidery now sadly blackened, she clings to what fragments of cloth are not burning or turned to ashes.
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| − | "Oh no... Iselsis... you! You must be Adorjan!" The healer's eyes are wide with shock and ''worry. Is Iselsis still... in there? '' Bathed in the remnants of that fire, green flame-tongues still licking at her bare skin, she takes a few shaky, hesitant steps back...
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| − | Then Days steps ahead of her, to plunge between the blaze and the others, and she shakes her head firmly. With one arm pushed tightly against her breasts, shreds of singed cloth forming a tattered cloak around her slender body, she pushes forward to stand beside him. Facing what Iselsis has become.
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| − | "Be careful," Ryshassa says pleadingly to the fae. Even as these words leave her lips, she musters an invisible sheath of Essence that seeps into her bare skin, strengthening its resilience. "You must still be quite hurt! You shouldn't exert yourself more than necessary!"
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' "There is only the here and now, Sunchild. There is only one breath, and then the next. I can only do what my Heart decrees."
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| − | Somewhere, deep in Elsewhere, a dagger-shaped lump of Essence grows brittle in pattern, of not form. Whole without, but dangerously close to fracturing within. All that remains is the moment between breaths.
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| − | '''????: ''' Empty eyes gaze at them, all the hospical clothing burnt out from 'Iselsis' body as she touches herself, and shakes her head. "She has taken such a poor care of my vessel... what is she thinking? Accursed Human..." She says, the currents of air whirling close to herself, fanning her hair over her body.... making her far too bright to look at, the hospital bed under her burning to ashes in the time it takes to blink. "Adorjan? No, human... Adorjan silences. Adorjan scorches. I shine. I sear." The gale moves a little towards Ryshassa and Days, mostly trying to keep them away, as she continues to touch her arms, her heart, her face... as if trying to familiarize herself with... herself.
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| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' A deep frown crosses Ryshassa's features. Of course she cannot say she understands anything about the whims of fae. But still, he is to her eyes a living being despite his... quirks, and so she resolves herself to at least support him if he is to exert himself anyway.
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| − | She gestures beckoningly to her serpent-twined staff, the Caduceus. It joins her side obediently, the emerald gem atop it devoid of radiance, already emptied of its lifeforce not long before. But the staff itself is still alert and just as responsive as ever, floating at the ready just inches from her shoulder.
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| − | "Adorjan or not," Ryshassa replies to the demon using Iselsis' body, "you are trespassing in a body that is not yours to keep! Do not touch her like she belongs to you!" she shouts. An almost imperceptible sheen of gold shimmers across her skin as the resilience she had added is further condensed, lending to her flesh the firmness of armor.
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| − | '''????: ''' "....."
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| − | Empty eyes gaze at Ryshassa, silently, while silent embers burn.<br>
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| − | They gaze at her as if not understanding a word she had said.
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| − | "You... mean..." And then, she does. And blinks. And bursts into laugher.
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| − | "Oh, little human, you misunderstand. I am not the one trespassing. This is mine, all mine. What you know is simply a stray thought that has refused to be silenced. She is in her rightful place, as I am in mine. This is the rightful order of the world. She, is supposed to be silenced. Her voice is all she has, driving away silence from its home." An anima bright as Malfean Dawn explodes around her, and she steps foward, in the air... "I will have to silence your lies, then. Sear the truth in your skin."
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' A twinge of doubt.
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| − | ''Not now. ''
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| − | A nagging touch of worry.
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| − | '''Not now. '''
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| − | A growing feeling of dread.
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| − | '''''NOT NOW! '''''
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| − | Monkey does not move, but something rather unexpected begins to occur. Aside from the look of sudden, conflicted anguish on his face... The Child of Wyld Days, the slayer of beasts and warrior of the Wyld...
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| − | ... begins to tremble with undeniable fright.
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| − | '''????: ''' She outstretches her hand... and the winds pour foward.
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| − | Silent. Drowning out all sound.
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| − | They can only see it coming... for there is no sound.<br>
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| − | Winds. Burning so bright. Scorching hot. <br>
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| − | A demonic Sirocco, intent of searing flesh and bone.
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' ''NO! I... I... I will... I will... ''
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| − | Even trembling as he is, Owl and Serpent come up in his defense...
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| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' Ryshassa does not move. Simply stands fast. The last shreds of her clothing are consumed by the blast. But she is untouched, the searing silent wind averted by a healing wave of butterfly blossoms that diverts the gust to either side of her.
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' There is flame. Flame without sound, but flame nonetheless. And the Monkey... the Monkey screams. In sheer pain, in sheer agony, in outright terror.
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| − | ''Death... close. Death, CLOSE! '''DEATH CLOSE! FLEE! '''''
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| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' "No... NO! It can't be true! Iselsis, just a... thought? A subordinate personality? ''Her? ''"
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| − | Ryshassa is no combatant. As much punishment as she can take, she has never once lifted a hand in violence to a living being, not without considerable exertion of will.
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| − | And even then... what can she really do? But she cannot afford to do nothing.
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| − | Not now.
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| − | The healer shakes her head stubbornly. "You... you must be joking! Even if you share the same body, she still deserves to live, to be a complete and autonomous person! I know she's -- I know you're still in there, Iselsis! Answer me!"
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| − | She steps closer, despite the gusts pushing her back. One... step... at a time. The Caduceus hovers before her every step of the way, the crown of wings stretched wide as if to shield her face.
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| − | "Answer me, Iselsis! Wake up! Wake up and take control! You can beat this... 'other'. You've always beaten her. You've asserted your own will and lived life your own way for as long as this... this curse has been put upon you!"
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| − | "Wake up! The war with the Bishop is not over yet! You have to protect Windia. You have to make up with your sister. You have to return to Faina!"
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| − | Her voice has risen to a shout as she comes as threateningly close as the demon would allow her -- and then some. Yet her face is anything but threatening. It is benevolent, it is heartfelt, her eyes shimmering with barely unshed tears.
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| − | "''Arise from your slumber, Izabella de Windia! ''"
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| − |
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| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' "Nnngh... d-dammit... hold together hold together HOLD TOGETHER!" Monkey bangs Owl and Serpent against his forehead a few times, hard enough to break the skin, then sweeps the staff outwards in a swirling rush of icy wind called forth from Creation and his own non-soul. Even doing this, in an attempt to put out the flames around him and his allies, he simply cannot bring himself to even look at the transformed not-Iselsis, body still a quivering mess even as he acts with his last shreds of dignity
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| − |
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| − | '''????: ''' Fire moves towards Ryshassa... but is stopped by Monkey's staff, the flames put out...
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| − | | |
| − | And even though she is silent, her eyes ''burn'' with searing heat!
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| − | | |
| − | "Useless... '''this is useless'''! She is gone. She... is..."
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| − | | |
| − | The winds tried to come again, but they did not obey her. The flame within her hair stopped burning.
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| − | | |
| − | "... no..."
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| − | | |
| − | She screams. Holding her face, as if trying to stop noise from getting out....
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| − | | |
| − | ... and then falls, unconcious.
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| − | | |
| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' Monkey pauses for a moment, almost as if making certain that the threat has passed. Once that's verified... he sinks to his knees and proceeds to just kneel there, still trembling. Even in that state, even though courage has fled and bravery been submerged, Monkey remembers why he fought up to this point, why he moved, why he burned.
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| − | | |
| − | "... Fiona. Does she yet live?"
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| − | | |
| − | '''Archren: ''' Archren, covered in sweat, from the heat of the room, the tips of her sleeves and hair burnt, lets go of the strings... "... Yes. She will be fine... soon. But the Virdynn corrupted her essence...." She looks at Fiona, feline traits still in her... "... I am afraid I cannot undo the corruption. But she will wake up soon..."
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| − | | |
| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' Relieved... somewhat... that Fiona will at least be all right, Ryshassa rushes to check on Iselsis, whether she might wake up as herself again. Realizing belatedly she is clad in nothing but bits of burnt kimono, she finds herself thankful for her long hair, arranging it hastily over the parts that the burnt bits of cloth don't cover.
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| − | | |
| − | On second thought she pulls one of the sheets from an empty bed and wraps it around herself, instead. ''There is more than enough to explain to leave '''that''' free for comment. ''
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| − | | |
| − | '''Leonas Du Mistlav: ''' Leonas watched all that, and it was over too fast, before he could summon the will to get out of bed....
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| − | | |
| − | "What... what '''is''' she?" He asks, thinking, scratching his chin... "You think... the creature spoke true, about the body?"
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| − | | |
| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' "Corruption."
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| − | | |
| − | Monkey stays where he is, looking down at the floor. "She... if I lose the Sunchild from before..." Days trails off into mumbles, still trembling visibly.
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| − | | |
| − | '''Leonas Du Mistlav: ''' Leonas finally gets up from the bed, walking towards the Monkey... who had saved Archren, Fiona, and them all here today... his hand touching his shoulder. "Are you well, Days? You seem.... distraught. You saved Fiona. It is all right..."
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| − | | |
| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' "I... don't know." Ryshassa says to Leonas' first comment. She sits on Iselsis' now quite charred bedside, the Caduceus hovering close by as always. "What I do believe is that Iselsis is real. She lived her own life, she had her own loves and hates, fears and motivations. Even if she were just... the recessive part of some other being's soul, she still is a person."
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| − | | |
| − | Ryshassa breathes a long, slow sigh. "Everything should be all right now... but, Lady Archren, does the 'corruption' change Fiona in any negative way?"
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| − | | |
| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: '''"I am not... well, no."
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| − | | |
| − | The trembling refuses to stop. "I hurt badly. Some rest would be nice..."
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| − | | |
| − | '''Archren: ''' "Not really, although she might like fish more from now on. Little claws, teeth, tail. Maybe you should get her a little bell." She says with a shrug, shaking her shirt a bit to try and get some air with it clinging to her body, and walking up to the fallen Iselsis. "Worked well enough.... for a moment I almost believed in all that insufferable sappyness. You have one hell of a bedside talk."
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| − | | |
| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' Ryshassa shrugs, pulling at a corner of her sheet to keep it wrapped firmly around her. "If it was convincing, it's because ''I'' meant it."
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| − | | |
| − | Though she does not at all like the woman's attitude, propriety still puts her in a position to be at least a little more polite. "And thank you. For helping Fiona." Her tone is somewhat terse and clipped; after all, she does not expect Archren to care she is thankful. It is just the principle of the thing, really.
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| − | | |
| − | '''Archren: ''' "Sure you did, darling." She says, as if dismissing it as nothing more than sanctimonious wishful thought, as she kicks the fallen demoness lightly. "Out cold, indeed. Her essence is even more screwed than the kitten-girl over there."
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| − | | |
| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' "... Fiona. Fiona. Creator... mother? I..."
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| − | | |
| − | Monkey is at Fiona's bedside in an instant, and almost reaches out to take her hand... but stops, almost as if afraid she might break... or maybe that he might, suddenly remembering his slashed and charred frame. "... pain."
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| − |
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| − | '''Leonas Du Mistlav: ''' Leonas simply watches Days, turning to Ryshassa... "Ryshassa... he is hurting. Badly. Some healing would be appreci... Archren, stop kicking the fallen heroine, please?"
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| − | | |
| − | Archren just shrugs. "Pshaw. It's not like I am killing her."
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| − | | |
| − | '''Ryshassa: '''Ryshassa's lips tighten. "Don't handle her like that. She's not something to be kicked around." Standing up suddenly, even gruffly if that could be possible for a woman so normally gentle, she crosses the room towards Days. The Caduceus follows, but not without "mistakenly" nudging against Archren almost hard enough to be a slap. But could very well have just been an accident.
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| − | | |
| − | "I'm sorry, Leonas." Her steps halt briefly as she turns to the sorcerer, acknowledging his request. "You are right. I did not think he needed the help -- but he is... different now, somehow." She frowns, looking at Days now, coming close enough to touch.
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| − | | |
| − | "You are hurt," she tells the fae gently, touching his arm with both hands. "You denied my aid before, but I can still share your pain with what strength I have left. Please accept my concern for you."
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| − | | |
| − | The healer stiffens next to him, her grip tightening slightly, anticipating the cold, stinging wave of pain that washes over her as she attunes herself to the suffering of his body. It is worse than she had thought. She did not even think that fae could feel such pain. Knowing that increases her esteem of Days, despite the... eating... of the priest's privates, before.
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| − | | |
| − | "I am sorry... I do not have much... left to give." Several of Days' wounds begin to rapidly knit and disappear, reforming on Ryshassa as bruises laid over bruises, and fresh, rubbed-raw splits in the fire-crackled portions of her skin. A ghostly outline of butterfly wings phases in and out from behind her, as the Twilight Caste mark flickers strongly to life on her brow.
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| − | | |
| − | When it is done, she hardly has the strength left to stop herself from falling to her knees.
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| − | | |
| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' Snow Monkey, as some of the pain fades, hisses deeply, loudly, and his first reaction once skin seals and burns slough away is to turn and steady the woman who went that far for him... but he stops. He pauses. He... doubts.
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| − | | |
| − | ''I am too strong. I will crush her. I am too weak, she will fall anyway. I am a dirty beast, I will defile her. I... I.... ''
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| − | | |
| − | Monkey stays where he is, frozen in indecision.
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| − | | |
| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' Ryshassa doesn't quite fall, catching herself on the edge of Fiona's bed at the last minute. Looking up at Days as she struggles back up to a standing position, she tilts her head in confusion. ''He really does seem different. ''
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| − | | |
| − | "Are you... all right?" she asks him tentatively. She almost wants to ask him to help put Iselsis back up on a bed, but he looks so hesitant to do anything at all that she doesn't have the heart to say it.
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| − | | |
| − | Instead she shakes her head and, retrieving a second spare sheet, strides back towards Iselsis -- keeping a large berth around Archren, this time -- and covers her securely with it. "Is there anything else we can do now? The Lilies should be able to deal with the burned area and keep watch over the girls..."
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| − | | |
| − | ''And I need some rest. A great deal of rest. ''
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| − | | |
| − | '''Leonas Du Mistlav: ''' Leonas reaches down, picking Iselsis up, taking her to one of the vacant beds....
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| − | | |
| − | "What we have to do, is rest. We all need it. When we are rested, and the rest are back, we will see how we react to this..."
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| − | | |
| − | '''Archren: ''' "Seems like a good idea." The Geomancer says, straightening her hair. "I need a shower, too, too hot around here. And better for you to rest now, healer. You are in no position to mend a fly's broken leg as it is."
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| − | | |
| − | '''Child of Wyld Days: ''' Days is quiet. Days is still trembling. Days continues to just look woefully at Fiona, expression devoid of anything except an appearance of complete helplessness. "This is what it feels like to break.... it... I don't like it very much."
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| − | | |
| − | Days quiets down, still staring.
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| − | | |
| − | '''Ryshassa: ''' "You don't have to tell me that." Ryshassa replies curtly to Archren, immediately regretting the tone of voice her words came out with. ''I shouldn't let her get to me. ''
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| − | | |
| − | A quiet sigh escapes her lips. "We will just have to hope that the Prince and the others will return all right."
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| − | | |
| − | '''Narrator: ''' And then, something crosses their bodies. Something cutting, as a knife cutting part of their souls.
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| − | | |
| − | The skies of Spire turn red.
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| − | | |
| − | Drained and broken, they feel the ritual start...
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| − | | |
| − | ... weakened, without Bouki to connect the strands.
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| − | | |
| − | ... weakened, without one of its major temples.<br>
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| − | ... but still... able to kill. In time. They had time.<br>
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| − | ...and can only pray that the others use the time to stop it, before it is too late....<br>
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| − | For them, and for the city.
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| − | | |
| − | | |
| − | ----
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| − | | |
| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/SeventhMovement|Seventh Movement]]
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| − | * - Back to [[GoldenCat/DanceOfAngels|A Dance of Angels]]
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