House of Healing | 5th of Rottings

The group has been at the House Healing for hours now. It's approaching midnight, the room is lit by a soft glow through the glass ceiling panels, and nobody really knows what to do with themselves anymore. Thalga sits quietly to the side, observing. She barely knows Tayleon, barely knows Vita's mother Ameena, and she feels it. She's out of place here, surrounded by grief that isn't hers to carry.

Naomi had been sitting with Ameena earlier, offering what small comfort she could. Now she's retreated into her own thoughts. Her main priority, honestly, is to keep her head down. They just got out of prison. They have community service to work through. She wants to survive the next few weeks without making things worse.

Rose sits beside Tayleon and doesn't move much. She can't stop thinking about the fact that it could have been her in that bed. She wishes she could do something useful. There's nothing to do. So she stays, and she keeps watch.

Vita hasn't left her mother's side once. She's unnervingly quiet, turning the same questions over and over in her head. Why isn't her mother affected by Einar's mind control? Why can't he read her mind? Why does her mother look so young? She's human. None of it makes sense. Vita uses the puzzle to hold the guilt at arm's length, because every time her eyes drift toward Tayleon, she's reminded that he's there because of her.

...
...
...

Eventually Thalga speaks up, gently suggesting that some of them should probably head back to the Academy. They have class in the morning. Naomi agrees. Vita hesitates, not wanting to leave her mother alone in the middle of the night without Leander there.

And then Leander arrives.

They hear him before they see him, his voice carrying from the temple entrance where a guard is trying, and failing, to stop him from barging in. He pushes through anyway. He looks like himself on the outside, but something is wrong. He isn't exactly drunk, more like someone who needed to drink and did, heavily. The warmth he usually carries is completely gone. He's somewhere else entirely, even while standing in the room.

Vita runs to him immediately and he hugs her back, but he says nothing. After a long moment she tells him they're heading back to the academy, but she'll return the moment classes end tomorrow. He barely registers it. His eyes stay on Tayleon.

Before they leave, Vita hugs and kisses both her mother and Leander goodbye, but he doesn't look up. She doesn't take it personally.

As they walk out, Thalga catches a fragment of conversation between two clerics near the entrance, something about a stack of paperwork filed over a missing cleric named Miss Rodoni (Ridonia) She keeps it to herself and says nothing to the others. They find a carriage back to the academy. It's well past midnight by the time they reach their rooms.

Cursebreakers Academy | Late Night | 5th of Rottings

Most of them fall into bed without much ceremony. Vita sets the strange glowing dice on her bedside table rather than keeping it in her pocket, and the moment she does, it catches the light and sparkles. She hears it again, that faint little giggle that seems to come from nowhere. She stares at it flatly, decides she isn't playing this game tonight, and goes to sleep.

Naomi can't sleep, despite her exhaustion. She lies in the dark with too much rattling around in her head, and eventually she opens her eyes to find Gilgamesh standing at the window, looking out at the moon. His eyes, usually a warm golden yellow, have shifted to something silver in the moonlight.

They talk, quietly, Gilgamesh tells her he can sense Einar calling out to him mentally, but Gilgamesh is blocking the connection, but it takes a toll on him. He can sense Einar's pain.

You're right, I cut quite a bit out. Let me redo it in full:

Naomi
Something on your mind?

Gilgamesh
I hear him calling out to me.

Naomi
Einar, you mean?

Gilgamesh
Yes...

Naomi
What does he say?

Gilgamesh
I don't know that yet, I can only sense his call. But if I make the connection, then he knows where I am. He knows where the card is. And I don't think that I'm ready myself. It has been a very long time since he has called out to me.

Naomi
He's specifically calling out to you?

Gilgamesh
Yes. It is at least what I sense.

Naomi
And you are able to block him?

Gilgamesh
It goes both ways. I can block him out. He can block me out.

Naomi
Do you have any idea what he wants or what he needs from you?

Gilgamesh
I do not know...
I do not know... For this moment...
But others....others... I cannot speak of...

The sound of changling chains, though none are visible.

He looks to the moon. Naomi looks with him, trying to sense what he sees. His eyes begin to shift, gleaming faintly, changing from their almost golden yellow to something more silvery.

Naomi
Is the moon helping you? What is your fascination with it?
Aside from it being a beautiful moon...?

Gilgamesh
is there someone special in your life? Or has there ever been someone special in your life?

Naomi
...Sort of, I guess.

Gilgamesh
Do you understand, when you have not seen them for a long time, that it can ache?

Naomi
Yes.

Gilgamesh
That's what I'm feeling.

Naomi
Do you know where they are?

Gilgamesh
They're gone.

Naomi
Do you want to talk about it?

Gilgamesh
Despite the fact that I'm from a story, I still feel as any other... mortal would, I would say.
But I did not come alone. I had an equal. Or perhaps... a reflection...

Naomi
...

Gilgamesh
I was not always the way that I am now. My current form is based on experiences of my Epic. And when we fought together earlier, it reminded me of that time. And I yearned for it once more. But it cannot be.

Naomi
Why not?

Gilgamesh
Because he does not exist. Because in this world, there is no him.

Naomi
Are you sure? I mean, you are here.

Gilgamesh
I know he is not here anymore.

Naomi I do believe that some parts of everyone stay alive in their loved ones, depending on what you believe.

Gilgamesh
Possibly. But my existence is very much different than yours.

Naomi
Maybe. But you're here...

Gilgamesh
I am.

Naomi
So how much different is it really?

Gilgamesh
A fascinating perspective, but not one that helps me further.

Naomi
Maybe not...
I do apologize for making you yearn for that time.

Gilgamesh
That is... not your fault.

Naomi
Maybe it isn't. I see what it does to you, and it's...
I can't imagine how difficult it must be to yearn for something you feel like you can never have.

Gilgamesh
I appreciate your sincerity. I'm glad that you are strong enough for me to bond with.
I do not know if I would have been able to... resist if I had chosen the others.

Naomi
Glad I could be of help? I guess... Though I do believe all of us have their own strengths.

Gilgamesh
True.

Naomi
But maybe mine aligns best with yours, and that's why it works.

Gilgamesh
Perhaps.

He looks back to the moon.

Gilgamesh
Have you ever wondered if there was something special about yourself?

Naomi
I have started wondering that recently.

Gilgamesh
Why?

Naomi
Many reasons, really. But for one... I was called a water-blessed.

Gilgamesh
Well, you are.

Naomi
...So people keep saying.

Gilgamesh
Look at your hand...

He looks at Naomi's hand. A ring of flowing water has formed around it without her realizing. Naomi is befuddled by what she sees...

Naomi
Like now... Why me?

Gilgamesh
I cannot answer you that question.

Naomi
Why now? There have been stories about my clan...
Why me and why now?

Gilgamesh
Do you believe in fate?

Naomi
To an extent...

Gilgamesh
I don't. I believe in choice.

Naomi
You could say I believe in both.

Gilgamesh
But what is stronger? What you are destined to be, or what you choose to be?

Naomi
I think that's a tough question to answer.
For some people, they may feel like they don't have a choice, even though they do.
They would probably say the destiny is more powerful. Those that feel like they made a choice every step of the way... would say otherwise.

I'm sort of more in the middle. I made a choice to venture out into the world, but I didn't choose to become water-blessed. Yet I still am. So is that part my choice, or is it part fate or destiny? Or is it maybe both? Would it still have happened if I was still at home?

Gilgamesh
You have a nuanced perspective on things. Some others...

He looks once more to the moon.

...do not. And by extension, I shouldn't have either. But I am changing as well.

Naomi
Changing how?

Gilgamesh I'm learning from you. Even a great king must learn from others.
Although... perhaps that first part has always been exaggerated.

Naomi
That you are a great king, you mean? What do you mean?

Gilgamesh
...

Naomi
I mean, you are as great as the people you rule think you are, and the legacy you leave behind.

Gilgamesh
Perhaps that's the way, and the reason why I am how I am now. Because back in my time, before I met my...

A deliberate pause, the word carrying weight.

...reflection... I was a tyrant.

Naomi
You keep calling him "A reflection."
What do you mean by that exactly?

Gilgamesh
He was not born. He was made. Made within my story, to teach me.
And teach he did. But in the end, for that story, there was nothing I could do....
And now I am this. Stuck in a stasis that I cannot change from, despite me... learning...
My existence is irony itself, almost. Never moving forward.

Naomi
If you are learning, you're moving forward, right?

Gilgamesh
An irony to it.

Naomi
What was his name?

Gilgamesh
Enkidu.

Naomi ...Enkidu...?

She sits with the name for a moment...
It sounds faintly familiar but she cannot place it.

Naomi
Who created him, since you said he was made?

Gilgamesh
In my tale, they called them gods.
In this world, I suppose Idols are the correct... terminology?

Naomi
I see...

A long silence settles between them. The moon drifts slowly, and Naomi stays at the window with him, just sharing the quiet. After a moment the moon shifts behind the stone frame of the window.

Gilgamesh
I thank you for this moment.

Naomi
You are welcome.

Gilgamesh
I hope you rest well.

Naomi
I still need it after our fighting session earlier.
It took more out of me than I thought it would.

Gilgamesh
But you are strong enough.

Naomi
So you say.

Gilgamesh
Perhaps the second time you will suffer less of the effect.
But... that is your choice to make.

Naomi
Let's just say I hope I don't feel the need, as I did last time, to call upon you.
But I do appreciate having the option.

Gilgamesh
That is your choice to make. Try to rest...
Rest is important for a warrior.

He slowly fades, returning to the Sun Card, leaving Naomi alone at the window. She stands a moment longer, looking back toward where the moon was. After a few quiet minutes, she turns toward her bed.

She looks down at her hand and notices something she didn't see before. A faint ring of water, moving, circling her wrist and glowing softly in the dark. She sits on the edge of the bed and starts experimenting with it, shaping it into ice, melting it back to mist, pulling it apart and watching it reform. She plays with it until she finally feels calm enough to sleep. When she wakes up in the morning, it's still there, settled into the shape of a bracelet, shifting slowly between water and ice.

Cursebreakers Academy | Early Morning | 6th of Rottings

Thalga is up first. She brews a healing potion from the ingredients she has left, gets herself together, and settles on the couch to wait for the others. Naomi comes out a little later than usual, but she looks more rested than she has in days. There's a steadiness about her that wasn't quite there before. And on her left wrist, visible and faintly glowing, is the new bracelet.

Thalga notices it immediately and asks what it is. Naomi looks at it for a moment, then breathes out a small puff of cool mist from her palm, almost like a demonstration. She says it just appeared. She doesn't have a better explanation than that. Rose comes out of her room, spots the bracelet, and recognizes it. She'd seen similar ones on the other group of rival students practicing in the courtyard.

Then Vita stumbles out right at the last possible second, as she always does, leans over the back of the couch without any preamble, and grabs Naomi's arm to get a closer look. Naomi, mid-sentence with Rose and Thalga, suddenly finds her arm being yanked in a completely different direction. She looks at Vita. Vita looks at the bracelet. She asks where Naomi got it. Naomi says it just appeared. Vita says wow and sits down.

In the middle of all this, Thalga quietly does something on the communication device she wears on her arm. She tries to be subtle about it. She fails entirely. The device makes a sound none of the other girls have heard before, and all three of them turn to look at her at once.

She tells them she was adjusting her system calculations. But all of them look befuddled. Naomi is the one who pushes back, carefully but directly. The ladies decide to get breakfast, and on the way there, Naomi reminds Thalga that they're all caught up in something that's already almost gotten several of them killed, and that doing things behind each other's backs, even with good intentions, makes trust harder. She says that claiming they can trust her while refusing to explain what she just did is itself a reason not to trust her right now.

Thalga listens. She holds firm. She says she isn't certain her idea will even work, and she doesn't want to get everyone's hopes up over nothing. She says discretion is sometimes necessary, and she won't say more than that.

Naomi reads her carefully and comes to a conclusion she keeps mostly to herself. Thalga isn't lying. She genuinely believes she's doing the right thing. But genuinely believing it and actually being right aren't always the same thing.

They head to breakfast still carrying the tension. Rose quietly plays with her dancing lights to lighten the atmosphere a little, letting small colored orbs drift above the table.

The Training Arena

They make it to their lesson with a few minutes to spare, arriving to find the other group of four already deep into a session. Each of them is working against an elemental guardian, their bracelets glowing bright as they channel power through them. The water student is building something close to a small tidal wave. The fire student, timid where Vita is wild, is practicing to to control the flames. The Earth student practices combat while blindfolded, and the Air student flies with an attitude "Look at me being better than you."

Their own session goes considerably less smoothly.

Professor Askdyrnir raises the training platform high into the open air, tells them plainly that falling off will probably break their backs, and sets them against a group of air elementals that prove to be infuriatingly difficult to hit and, worse, clearly aware of it. The elementals have personality. They shrug off missed spells. One of them does what can only be described as laughing at Vita after she misses it three times in a row. She takes this personally and cannot let it go for the rest of the session.

They take hits, get knocked off their feet, get pushed backwards across the platform by gusts of wind that hit like walls of stone. Rose summons three spirit cats, and sends them in as a distraction. They are immediately destroyed by a thunderwave and disappear mid-meow. Naomi gets hit hard enough to go flat on her back and apologizes to the group from the floor. Thalga fires her crossbow and misses so many times she's genuinely considering whether she can retrieve the bolts later.

...
...

But things start to turn. Naomi channels the cold from her new bracelet through her blade and methodically freezes a fire elemental solid, shattering it apart with the final blow. It leaves behind a small red gemstone that pulses with the same quality of light as her bracelet. Vita finally lands a hit on the elemental that had been taunting her and feels a brief but intense satisfaction about it. But then Vita pushes too far.

She's frustrated and she reaches for more than she has. Something answers that reach, something that isn't quite hers. A pulse of dark energy rolls out from her in a wide circle, silent and sudden. The last few small elementals collapse. And Naomi, standing barely a few step away, staggers as something is pulled out of her and absorbed directly into Vita.

Vita doesn't know what she did. She just feels, suddenly, inexplicably well. Naomi drops to one knee. Professor Askdyrnir ends the session immediately. He comes to Naomi first, asks Rose and Thalga to check on her, and then turns to Vita. He asks her where that power came from.

She tells him honestly that she doesn't know. He tells her, with a quiet gravity that makes it land harder than shouting would, that if she had pulled just slightly more, Naomi wouldn't be standing anymore. He tells her to go and rest. He tells her she needs to learn control. Then he dismisses the class.

Naomi pulls her sleeve back down, they all see the marks. Dark purple lines running up both her arms, faintly glowing, the same colour as Einar's hair. And when Naomi looks at Vita, she notices something that makes her go still. She can see Vita's mark now too...

Rose stays behind at the Professor's request while the others help Naomi down from the platform. Rose takes the chance to apologize for the way she'd spoken to him in a previous lesson, for letting her frustration come out in a way that wasn't fair.

He receives this more gently than she expected. Professor Askdyrnir tells her she reminds him of someone who had the same kind of...spirit. His necklace, a small heart-shaped jewel, flickers as he says it. Rose notices, but doesn't ask. Instead she tells him something she's been holding onto. That she isn't willing to give up on Snow, because she has reason to believe Snow is still out there somewhere. That she's seen her.

Rose
Professor, I... I just wanted to apologize. I was in a frustrated place and I was out of place.
I shouldn't have let myself out like that. The way I spoke to you. I shouldn't have.

Askdyrnir
I appreciate that you tell me that.

A pause. Something shifts almost imperceptibly in his expression. Rose' eyes drift downward for just a moment toward the heart-shaped jewel at his chest, which has been quietly jittering this entire time.

Askdyrnir
I got upset... Perhaps a bit too much.
Because you remind me of someone... Who had the same... spirit as you do.

Rose tries not to look at the jewel. She fails. It responds to something in the air between them, trembling faintly like a compass needle near a magnet. She looks away quickly.

Rose
I suppose I am definitely not in a position to ask you about that.

Silence. He gives her nothing. She waits a moment, then presses forward carefully.

Askdyrnir
Regardless... I want you to work on your flying.

Rose
I agree.

Askdyrnir
...

Rose
And I really don't mean to upset you or disagree with you.
I just... I wanted to say that...
I couldn't give up on Snow if I wanted to.
Because I happen to know... that she is not gone.

She steadies herself.

Rose
I have seen her.

A long stillness. Askdyrnir does not turn around immediately. When he does move, it is only to turn away from her entirely, placing his hands behind his back, facing the empty arena.

Askdyrnir
Go check up on your friends.

Rose
...All right. Thank you for the lesson. I will work on my skills.

On the walk back, nobody talks much. Vita carries the weight of having nearly killed one of her closest friends without meaning to, without even realizing she was doing it. The purple marks on Naomi's arms don't fade...