Roleplay

The mindscape shifted as a whole in response to his words, the part of the forest around him seeming to melt, until shadows, personal demons, and worst moments were licking out at him. But they were being interwoven with the best moments of her life, leaving them twisted and mangled.

Working with Muriel to get the fae into the Facility, the feeling of pride in her Charge for not being like the other fae in the lair warped: Isolt standing over her Charge scoffing, belittling the fae who had done nothing but care for her.

Lying to the Dreamcatchers to keep Muriel safe: ShadedSky's greatest fear coming true as Isolt let all of the criminals free laughing as they slaughter every dragon in the area.

Finding Isra as her second Charge and her soul finally settling: the tundra turning his back on her for being a freak among her kind, scoffing at the very notion of a guardian having two Charges.

There were flashes of defense against the assault, moments of Anaya's rare laughter, learning from Dawn, and listening to Muriel's adventures. But the longer the fire raged, the weaker the defence grew.

Sans didn't move as the scene shifted around him. He had done this before after all, and knew how the mindscape worked. What he did do was involuntarily wince when he saw the pain that these memories brought her. He was half tempted to erase them entirely, wiping them from her head entirely, but he knew that would do more harm then good.

Instead he added his own strength to the defence. Reinforcing it with his own memories. Memories of the days he spent teaching his students. The pride of watching them move on from his teachings and pursue their own paths. The love he felt for his brother, his own charge, and his wife. And the most recent memory, the most powerful, was the pure joy of watching his only son take their first breath and step out into the world.

(I nearly went into tears writing that bit)

As the light from the defences grew, they started to twist together forming a shape. Not a large guardian, but a small fae. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=21663182] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/216632/21663182_350.png[/img] [/url] Her mouth moved, but she wasn't solid enough to be heard. Her dark, but shining claws ran through one of the shadows, pulling the personal doubt from the memory, holding it up for the guardian to see. [i]"You're sure about this?" Isolt asked Muriel. Muriel laughed and Isolt couldn't help but grin back at the fae, who flit up to land on her head. "Come on Little Guardian. You're the one who wanted to join in on my adventures. There's bound to be some amazing people in that Facility. We just need to get into it." Isolt felt a flash of pride at the easy acceptance that she had earned from her Charge, finally old enough to actually do something about Muriel's problems. "I think I can do something about that," Isolt offered. "I mean, if you want me too." Muriel cheered, "That's the spirit! Life is only enjoyable to those who take risks. We'll go see what's up with that Facility, and I dunno, do something as amazing as everyone else in our clan. Well, except for Dad, but Dad was chosen by Windsinger, it'll be hard to top that." "I bet you could do it," Isolt insisted loyally, knowing deep down that this fae was going to go places. "You're the best dragon I know." Muriel's laughter that time felt like a gift from the eleven themselves[i]

Sans let out a sigh as the darkness retreated from the light. He grew a curious look when he saw the fae, as it seemed a tad out of place. Then it hit him. "I see. This is the last good memory you have of her, isnt it?" He asked.

The fae laughed, taking to the air around around the guardian. As she circled him, the confident voice of Muriel mixed with the steady voice of Isolt was the one who spoke. "I should hope not," the figment said. "Little Guardian is far too young to suffer through losing me."

The fae landed on his head, watching the lights and shadows dance. "No, I'm a mix of her sanity and imagination. Something that she will sorely be lacking if you don't get a move on getting rid of that fire. It's really messing with her, and if something permanent happened to my Little Guardian than you can be sure that my namesake will come do something that we'll all regret. Changed her life for this one here, you know?"

"From what I can tell whatever magic is here is mashing memories and doubts together, it's getting near impossible to tell what actually happened in Isolt's life and what is a lie." She twisted her claws and the memory that she had shown him dropped on the ground in front of him in the form of a glowing ball. "That's one of the few that I'm certain are still correct."

"I see." Sans said, carefully picking up the shining ball. "I must get to work then. I will save what i can. But I can not guarantee I will be able to save it all." He added solemnly before slowly making his way towards the darkness.

He went through each memory, one by one, using the glowing orb as a template to find any evidence of tampering and removing it before moving on to the next. It was slow work, but it got the job done.

The figment of Muriel followed along behind him, commenting on each memory that he found and dealt with. "Oh, that's a good one." "I always liked that moment." "Look more of the other me!" "I didn't know that happened."

But as they approached the area that housed Isolt's secrets, she fell silent. Her fins flattened on her head, and she narrowed her eyes. "What does one do without a purpose in life?" she murmured quietly, glancing at one of the memories of Muriel. "How did you know Isolt? How did you know that protecting me was what you were meant to do?"

"We never know why we take on our charge. Its just a feeling. Call it fate, or intuition, or whatever. Just a feeling." He said. He knew the question was rhetorical, but he answered anyway. He looked onward, stopping at some unseen marker and saying, "Isolt. This is where you're most personal thoughts and feelings. I must ask your permission before I can do anything to these perious memories."

There was a rumble through the ground and Muriel looked at the dying fire that flared for a second before lowering once more. The fae reached out into the air and murmured. "Don't worry Little Guardian. I'm here now. It'll be alright. How many times do I have to tell you to start putting yourself in front of others?"

Yes rippled through the air, and Muriel settled back down onto Sans's head.

"That would be your permission," she said quietly. She poke quietly, not from fear but from sadness and a little bit of anger. Her best friend and greatest follower deserved better for one of her first adventures. Isolt deserved so much more than her, maybe the guardian would have been better off with just Isra as her Charge.

Sans took a deep breath and stepped over the invisible threshold. He felt a sudden need to hide and lower his voice, as was the way with secrets. He pressed onward, ignoreing the feeling, and contiuneing his work, the flames retreating as he went.

He examined each one with a trained eye. Secerts are the easesit to change, and the hardest to detect any sort of tampering. It was slow going, but eventually there was only a small spark.