Roleplay

Tem grinned at her fellow vampire. "I have as much of an idea as you. I gotta change." She looked across to the Whisper as it spoke to her, taking in the horrible details of the face. She had faced the Exorcist as her bond. She could handle anything now. "If you could," she frowned a little, worriedly, but shook her head. "I know she's here. I know she is."

The dwarves helped them all up one by one, their sturdy hands calloused from years of mining and fighting. They had kind eyes. She tried to remember what she had heard about the dwarves. They had retreated like the Humans after the Age of Chaos, and had returned in the same way as their kin after the Disaster. Humans and Dwarves were two of a kind. Different in their ways, but steadfast as old friends.

"We'll get ye to the wall," one of them said, kindly enough. "Strong beer will do yeh all some good. Pale as ghosts, half o' yeh."

They listened as the Whisper asked, one of them studying his face. "'s a nasty accident yeh've had, lad. Yeh want us to look a' it?"

"Council? Yeh're bein' silly now. Got some minin', got some fightin', got some guardin', got none counselin'. Don't really seem like an important thing to do, at times like this."

"Ol' Garn and the others're lookin' after things, if yeh wanna speak to 'em. Most o' our lads are out fightin'." He sighed for a moment. "Anyways, yeh jus' come with us, we'll get yeh a nice beer."

They started to lead them down through the streets. Tem narrowed her eyes at the vampire's challenge. "Don't cause trouble here." She warned. He evidently wasn't a city vampire; city vampires knew when not to draw attention to themselves.

The city streets were... different to the stone city they'd known in the future. The warm air seemed to emanate from the ground, sometimes pleasantly, sometimes not so much. There were people everywhere, but most of them had a roof over their heads, if only because as many as possible crammed themselves into the buildings. It was likely the same underground.

The wall came up over them, looming like the massive structure it was. They were led through a solid stone door, on hinges made of metal and cogwheels, and taken up a narrow flight of steps that seemed to go on for far too long before letting out of a trapdoor to the top of the wall.

It had been designed to be defended from the very start. While the future wall had been carved into impressive architecture, this wall meant nothing but business. Crenellations carved from solid rock lined the outer side of the wall, with no measures to stop anyone falling, spikes pointing down and out on the outside to prevent siege ladders giving any headway. Where the wall merged back into the rough mountain, towers with embrasures and arrow slits had been carved from the stone, defended by archers. The view was... different.

Where the future had seen nothing but fields and tracks stretching away into the distance, forests now bristled across the landscape, intersected by wild grasslands and wetlands. The red sky reached down over all of it, an apocalyptic sight to see, for such a beautiful display of life. Anyone young enough not to remember this time would have never seen the world so alive before.

An old dwarf was leaning on a crenellation, puffing on a pipe, a couple of humans and another dwarf with him, just hanging around. A couple were smoking, some sitting down, looking tired. They looked up and greeted the group amiably.

"This 'ere's Garn." One of the dwarves introduced. "This lot 'ppeared outta nowhere, down by Sorn Alley. Thought 't musta been some kind o' magic intereference, we did."

Garn looked across at the group amiably. "Well, feel free to stay. You're in the Safe City, aft'r all." He took a long puff of his pipe. "Appearin' out of nowhere ain't something you often see people do. Each to their own, I s'ppose."

"C'mon, le's get yeh a beer."

"Stay an' talk a while first. What's a fine group o' kids doin' in the Safe City, eh? Ain't seen bright young kids 'round for a long time." He waved his pipe at the forests. "All out there somewhere. Thinkin' to fight for families, to help people, y'know. Ask me, you've done a wise choice. Y'ever seen a battlefield?" He took a long puff of his pipe again, blowing the smoke out for a while before continuing. He seemed to be partially talking to himself. "Blood makes mud o' the soil, and yeh're climbin' over bodies an' splashin' through gods-know-what, and the next thing yeh know, someone's got their sword in yehr mate, some bugger jus' like you. Lotta good lads go off t'war. Lotta bad men come back."

He puffed on his pipe again. "We don' know where the army is, truth be tol'. We don' know nothin'. Missin' in action, dead, who knows anymore." Another pause as he puffed. "Yeh see that red in the sky? Fires. From villages burnin', prob'ly. We don' know. We're safe in our city."

The painted on eye narrowed. This orange eyed fellow is quite interesting. Whisper it said. Not scared by his dagger. Quite peculiar. Oh well, it seems quite protective in some ways of the boy who was with the girl he loved.

The eye focused on the vampire by him. This girl is strong. He's never been in a city like this before. He doesn't like being bossed around, but the girl knows more. And knowledge is one of the best leverage for strength. He whispered to her, "What is your name? And who in Sorneith is this dwarf?"

Raphael has to admit, he's not the bravest. But this old dwarf doesn't even care about burning villages, armies missing. How long will it take him to realize every city falls eventually? The city can't be safe forever. The eye stared at the dwarf. "Who are you?"

This state of a city was nice though. Peaceful even. It was sweet. Then another flashback.

The Empire

Felicity

His head hurts. He can't remember why he knows those names. Why? All he knows is that Felicity was connected to Callidora somehow, and this Felicity was on to him, he could smell her.

But why?

Lucine looked up as she heard her name shouted by a rather familiar voice, breaking into a wide smile as she saw Callum was awake and running towards her. She was knocked slightly back as she was hugged, wrapping her arms back around him and pressing her face into his shoulder. He was alive, and he was okay. They were both okay, wherever they were. Well, the real question was whenever they were. Lucine drew back from him, staring at his eyes. They still looked odd.

“I’m fine..” She said, studying his face. The orange eye- with the foggy pupil- he must be blind in that eye. She tilted her head and looked confused for a moment, as she was confused. There was a lot to be confused about at the current moment, and the fact she couldn’t remember anything that happened after the world had been torn apart wasn’t helping matters.

“Are you feeling okay?” She asked Callum, her eyes filling with concern “Does anything still hurt? What about your eye…?” She didn’t want to ask too many questions and overwhelm him, though. However, it seemed a bit too late for that, as he quickly collapsed. Lucine let out a small gasp and kneeled next to him, waiting for him to sit back up. After he did, she sighed her relief, looking in the direction of Thalia, who had called his name and was running towards them. The girl smiled and stood, stepping back slightly to allow them their reunion.

She watched them, reminded of her own sister, and turned to look at the girl who had been wearing a similar necklace. She was standing there, looking at the ground and kicking it, as though she could kick something over. Maybe she was just bored. Lucine watched her head rise, and they met eyes for a minute, before Lucine looked away quickly. She didn’t want the girl to think she had been staring. She had been, of course, but mostly just out of curiousity for the necklace. This was dumb, there were obviously other necklaces like Callidora’s in the world.

Lucine had to steady herself for a moment. As far as she knew, Callidora had been ripped apart when the world ended, along with her father if he was even still alive at that point. Lucine, even though she had Callum, was alone. She took a deep breath, looking in another direction. She wanted to quiet her racing mind, which was thinking about so many things. She started muttering again, not even listening to what she was saying.

She quickly quieted as she felt Callum take her hand, squeezing his back and turning to look at him. She took a deep breath, turning her attention to everyone who was approaching Tem. That strange shadow creature was there, as well as what she assumed to be another vampire. Lucine took a deep breath.

“Callum..” She said, keeping her voice quiet, “We’ve been sent back in time, yes? How far back, do you reckon?” The answer had probably been told to her, but Lucine wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed at the moment.

She kept a firm grip on Callum’s hand as the group was led through the city, looking around. It was different from the past, it seemed warmer. Before all the corruption, she assumed. Was that why they had been sent back? To stop the corruption? Lucine didn’t know.

Lucine looked up as the wall loomed over them, amazed with the structure. It was certainly doing it’s job of defending. She walked up the stairs and through the trapdoor, amazed with the view. She had never seen anything like it- it was magnificent. She began to cough as all the smokes from the pipes entered her lungs.

She listened to the dwarf’s tale of war, keeping quiet. It sounded horrible. Everything about it. Yet here they were, supposedly sent back to fix it. She took a deep breath, coughing again as she inhaled a bit more smoke.

---

Felicity was kicking the ground. She was doing it as sort of a force of habit- the physical exertion helped the werewolf think. The two hot topics on her mind were her family, specifically Callidora and Virginia. Callidora had died, and thanks to this whole end of the world bulls***, Virginia was probably dead as well. Felicity was having trouble standing.

She could feel a pair of eye on her, and therefore she looked up, her own green eyes meeting the yellow ones of another d*** vampire. Felicity had had just about enough of vampires, coming in and f***ing things up for her. She wondered what this one wanted to mess up, and proceeded to flip it off, though she knew it probably didn’t notice due to looking away.

Yea that’s right, b****, quit your staring!

She turned her attention to the smell of another vampire, one which was talking to a dwarf, saying something about someone named “June.” Felicity didn’t have time to process it, because she soon smelled someone very familiar. Someone who she couldn’t wait to tear into.

It was the a**hole who had taken Callidora from her, though he was a human now. Still, she would recognize the scent, she would recognize it anywhere. Her headache was making her a bit more aggressive than she would usually be, and rolling up her sleeve, she started to march forward, towards the culprit, before stopping herself midwalk.

No. Not now. Don’t make a scene.

She instead followed the others, green eyes boring into the back of the vampire’s head, watching his every move. She was tracking now, waiting for a moment when she could strike him. It was like hunting.

She relaxed slightly as they entered the small area in the wall, with the idea of beer being offered. Yea, a drink would be great right about now. Take her mind off all the d*** sh** that had just happened.

The Whisper swung its gaze over to the stranger, listening to him talk. It found no meaning in his words, prompting it to chuckle. It eyed the dagger, showing no panic whatsoever in its gaze. It wasn't afraid; it had no reason to be. Any normal person would, but it didn't. "So you're tellin' me you came from some other dimension or some s**t?" it questioned, twirling its cane once again. It seemed to love doing that. "Who am I? Well, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Whisper. What kind of creature am I, you may ask? Actually, my species is rather unknown, but you can call me an Enigma. Literally." It then glanced at Call, who was still looking at them, before it returned its gaze to the stranger. "And don't even think about touching that boy over there," it warned, a dangerous glint in its eyes now, motioning to Call, still distant from them. "He's mine. So hands off."

It didn't know why it felt the need to say that. It would figure it would soon enough. The Whisper looked at Tem, nodding a little. "Not a problem, then," it replied, grinning. Before it could move to go find June, however, it was distracted by the dwarves. It saw friendliness in their eyes; what was the point of that? Probably to prolong your life by making sure no one else killed you by being kind. Well, at least kindness seemed to have a purpose... or did it? All these pointless thoughts made the Whisper feel sick. It hadn't really experienced this kind of thing before.

It had no reaction as one dwarf commented on its face, chuckling softly. "Nah... not an accident," he answered quietly. It didn't want to take advantage of their kindness. But why? "Thank you for your kindness, but it's okay. I'll be fine. Nothing can be done to fix it. I have to go find someone important to us, so I'll be out for a little bit. But I'll be back, with June. You all go enjoy your beer and whatever else you guys do in this time period." It paused to listen to the answer to its question, kind of relieved. Well, there was no Council here. But now it looked like an idiot, asking questions like that.

With that, it took off before the group could get further into the city, but beforehand, it had approached Call and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't do anything stupid," it had said, right before leaving to search for June, its eye scanning the ground below it. It felt like a wraith in the sky, to be honest, but it didn't mind. All it did was continue to search for June, feeling free up here, even if the color of the sky was supposed to give off an apocalyptic feel.

---

Call looked at Lucine as she asked him if he was alright, saying she herself was fine. He was relieved to hear that. He fought the urge to tilt his head as she asked if he was alright. Of course he was alright. But then she asked about his eye. The blind one. She had asked the question after he collapsed, but he still remembered it, and he wanted to answer her. "I'm okay," he said softly. "Yeah... um, I'm half-blind now." Really? Why'd you have to say it like that? "I don't know why, but I'll be okay. It... it doesn't look too bad, does it...?"

Soon enough, the Whisper had approached him, clasping his shoulder. He tilted his head at the creature.

Don't do anything stupid.

That was what the Whisper told him before it left the group, going Spirits know where. Call was left confused, having no idea as to where the Whisper was going, but he shrugged it off. It would be back. It wouldn't be gone forever. He turned to Lucine, gripping her hand tighter, yet he loosened his grip a little the moment he thought he was causing her harm. He smiled at her, then at the dwarves helping them along. He saw the kindness in their eyes and was touched. "Thank you," he said to them, blinking.

"Let's go," he said to Lucine, leading her along with the group, staying close to her at all times. Thalia walked next to them, with Raven in her arms. She liked the dwarves. She remembered knowing them when she was younger, living in the unfinished city of Colsar. Now that she thought about it, she did know what she was looking at. Suddenly, she knew her way through the streets, recognizing this place. She wondered with dry amusement if she would see her younger self here. She didn't know how that would affect time and space, but it would be cool if she did.

Call looked over at Lucine as they walked, keeping her close. Her voice was quiet, but he heard everything she said. He listened to her, nodding quietly. "Yeah," he answered, using the same voice she did. It reminded him of when he had corrected his breathing to match hers, back in Colsar, before the world had fallen apart. He could've died right there. He would've if it weren't for Lucine. He was sure of that. "How far back...? Hmm... well, I know this, there's definitely not a Council here," he whispered. "But I'm assuming we've gone back more than ten years. Probably after the Disaster. I don't know for sure. I think we'll find out soon enough."

They all walked up to the wall, where Call and Thalia's jaws nearly dropped; they locked them to keep that from happening. The view... it was stunning. The sky said otherwise, but everything else surprised the f**k out of them. It shouldn't have surprised Thalia; she had seen her share of the wilderness before. But as for Call, he hadn't gotten to experience that kind of thing. He saw a sea of trees forming forests where there had been trails and fields. Wild grasslands and wetlands existed down there too. The world, aside from the sky, looked more alive. It was then that Call noticed a few tears slipping from his eyes. They were tears of joy. He never thought he'd see anything like this. He wasn't old enough back then to remember a time like this.

Thalia patted him on the shoulder, smiling. "You alright?" she asked. Call wiped his eyes and smiled back at her. "Yeah," he answered. "I've... I never got to see anything like this... all I knew was stone..." Thalia nodded silently, looking to the dwarves. She found herself wanting some beer. She hadn't had a drink in a while. She remembered her first drink. She remembered feeling like her father, despising herself for daring to drink. She had gotten over it quickly, but now she wanted it again. Beer sounded good to her.

The same couldn't be said for Call.

He didn't despise his father, but he did despise his alcoholism. His old man never cared about him, about anyone, really. After his mother died, his other parent had given up on life, acting as though he had nothing to lose. Call shivered, but kept any other discomfort in as he continued listening to the dwarves. He wasn't sure he wanted to be the one to explain why they were here. No, they had to make it up, he was sure of it. Or maybe they could just say they didn't know. That was an option, too. They would sound like lunatics if they said they came from a destroyed future. It was something straight out of a fantasy.

Call looked at Lucine as she coughed, worried for her. He wanted to take her where the air was clean, but where was that place? Where could he take her? "Lucine, are you alright?" he asked worriedly, inhaling smoke and coughing as well. He could feel tears forming in his eyes; they were formed due to his coughing, which just kept going and going. He took a deep breath, only to cough again. Thalia coughed a little as well, looking worriedly at Lucine and Call.

"Hey Lucine..." he managed to get out in between coughs. "My eye... what... does it look bad...?"

Meanwhile, Thalia noticed something else. Someone she saw in the Faction's group, the one with the mask, was waving to get everyone's attention, at least, she assumed they were. She walked up to them, looking at them. "Yes?" she asked. "What is it?" She glanced back at the others, wondering if they would notice too. Call was too preoccupied with Lucine right now. Raven looked at the masked figure with curiosity, leaning forward just slightly, peering at him with curious eyes.

We’ve gone back at least ten years…

Lucine was curious about how far they had gone back. If they had gone back far enough, maybe her mother would still be alive. That was a small bit of optimism to keep the girl going, though she knew it may be squashed soon. Still, meeting her mother would be wonderful.

Lucine stayed quiet as they walked, nodding her thanks to the dwarves. She had one hand in Callum’s, and the other on her skirt, holding it up slightly so she wouldn’t trip and fall over the dirty hem. She was a bit absent minded, instead thinking about a number of things.

Thinking about the beauty of the world before the destruction.

Lucine had lived in the woods as a young girl, her father and mother running from the destruction of the villages due to the war and hiding their family. Lucine could remember clearly her house as a girl- a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. She and Callidora had shared a room for a few years, sleeping next to each other in identical hammocks that had been hung from the walls. Callidora would tell Lucine scary stories before they went to bed, keeping the young girl up all night. Looking back on it, Lucine supposed that was the point of the stories.

She turned her attention to Callum as he began to tear up, squeezing his hand. She felt the same way about seeing this world for the first time. Leaning on his shoulder, she looked out at the world and took in the beauty of it all. She felt compelled to keep the world like this. Something deep within her told her that this was the world her mother and father wanted her to experience. This was the world she wanted to be able to show her own children, far far in the future, without the war, of course.

Lucine turned to Callum as he began coughing, looking worried. She felt bad for coughing now, but she nodded in response to whether or not she was alright. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head in response to his question about the eye.

“It looks fine..” She said with a smile, her voice calmer than ever, taking on the reassuring tone she often tried to give it. She squeezed his hand, looking at both his eyes. To her, it didn’t look bad, just caught her a bit off guard. Besides, what did it matter to her what Callum looked like? He was still Callum, and she still loved him.

Lucine turned her attention again to the werewolf from earlier, finding herself continuing to stare. Something about her felt familiar, like she was a friend of a friend, someone Lucine had met once and then forgotten. She sighed deeply as she watched her, the werewolf keeping a fixed yet somewhat distracted gaze on another person, who Lucine did not turn her attentions to. She only looked away when they met eyes again, turning back to Callum. She should be more focused on him right now.

---

Felicity watched Raphael with her arms crossed and her eyes slightly narrowed, wanting nothing more than to grab a beer from the dwarves and forget that she was even glaring at him. Sighing, she felt the stare of the younger vampire again, and turned her attention towards her, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Grunting, she began to walk towards her, and by relation the boy that she was standing with. She stopped before reaching them, though, realizing if she made a scene they probably wouldn’t offer her beer. She was gonna talk to the kid though, find out what the d*** problem was.

"I'm Tem," she greeted the other vampire a little suspiciously, but didn't follow it up. Vampires could handle themselves, and she had a group and a June to find.

The dwarf puffed on his pipe again. "Ah, kids. Got lungs to care 'bout, I'll bet. Take 'em for a warm drink, blankets, get 'em tucked in," he said amiably. "Young'uns 're precious these days. An' don't you kids worry too much, mm? We'll be okay."

They left Garn puffing on his pipe, taking the group back down through the wall to a tavern carved into a guardhouse; it was definitely for the use of soldiers and miners, a space they could relax after a day of work. This place was smokey too - pipes had become popular in the Stone City after the Disaster. You could smoke anything out of them and forget the world.

The dwarves led them to the bar and ordered two beers for each of them, and three for themselves. That was a dwarf thing, too, although it wasn't exclusive to dwarves. Humans could match them in the drinking. One of the dwarves downed a pint in one, to a roar of rowdy approval. "C'mon, kid. I betcha can do jus' as well." He was talking to Callum, pushing a pint towards him.

"Go easy on him, Thol, that'd rot his liver."

The dwarf named Thol grinned widely. "Eh! Back from the war, I see! Yeh're one o' the only reliable ones there!"

"Got a home to get back to," the young man looked uncomfortable at the attention. He was sitting at the bar with a drink of his own, glancing around uncomfortably as though worried Thol's loud voice would carry. He was a few years older than twenty, and looked surprisingly familiar, although his eyes seemed to have something they hadn't had in the future. He looked very young in comparison, too, and there was a fresh scar all the way up his arm, and a couple of older but still visible ones on his cheek. He looked like he'd never had a decent meal in his life, a shocking contradiction to the Council member they'd known.

"If it ain't Athus! Yeh're quiet as a mouse, wouldn'ta known you'd come in the door!"

He felt a stare at the back of his head as he followed this Tem into a bar. "Athus?" He questioned. A name he never heard of certainly intrigued him. Then again, he didn't know anyone here. He turned his head back, the eye seemingly to look outside. A werewolf stood there, glaring at him. And then she turned to look at a young vampire by her. What was her problem? That glare looked as if she wanted to kill him... H*** he'll deal with her later. Right now he needs to find out who Athus is, and probably get drunk with beer.

Athus...

Call smiled as he heard Lucine' response. "Thanks," he whispered, kissing her cheek and pulling back, still smiling. He didn't know what his blind eye looked like. He didn't know that it was a different color now, permanently taking the form of the blaze that had burned in his eyes many times before. His mind was left to wonder whether or not he would be able to use his magic now, assuming Athus was here. Well, he probably would be... just not... well...

Himself.

Call shrugged it off; Lucine was more important. He needed to focus on her, make sure she was alright, even though she nodded to him earlier in response to him asking if she was okay. He soon found himself looking at someone with a teardrop necklace, the same person Lucine was looking at. He remembered Callidora having the same necklace. He didn't even have to wonder why Lucine was staring. He already had an idea of why. But he was asking himself why he was staring. Maybe it was the guilt he felt. The guilt of not being able to say thank you to Callidora, or to tell her he was sorry.

Sorry for what?

He sighed, looking at the dwarf who was speaking. He continued to be touched by their kindness, smiling at them; he wished he had known them when he was growing up. Maybe he had; he just didn't remember. He didn't remember ever living in this city, which was why he didn't know where he was when he first entered Colsar. Thalia, however, knew. She moved into the city when it was first being built, seeking protection for herself and her family, mainly, her little brother, who was much younger at the time. He looked older now, yet he still seemed young. He didn't deserve to die, and she had made sure of that when he was almost murdered.

Call kept his grip on Lucine's hand as they were led to a tavern... tavern. Being in a tavern again wasn't giving Call pleasant flashbacks. In fact, all he could see was Tem strangling Lucine, him placing himself over Lucine's body, holding back a scream as he was impaled by his own magic, facing Callidora, staying behind for his group; taking one for the team, as it were. Due to his action, he was Marked, his freedom taken, and everything just spiraled downhill from there. He sighed again, feeling uncomfortable, but he refused to speak out against going inside the tavern. He didn't want to be rude. That just wasn't his character.

However, Lucine probably didn't like it in here. She nearly died here, after all, and she had seen what her sister did to Call, thanks to the Dreamflyer that had attacked them prior to entering Visage. He wondered what Visage was like before it was destroyed, snapping out of his thoughts shortly after. He took a seat next to Lucine, pulling back a seat for her before sitting down, squeezing her hand reassuringly. He coughed again, the smoke in the tavern entering his lungs. He supposed it would be much harder to breathe if his punctured lung had stayed punctured. He was sure he had punctured it when Eirach broke several of his ribs. He was bleeding from the mouth at the time, and he had had enough of tasting his blood by then. He hated how it tasted, because it reminded him of a beautiful lie. It tasted sweet, but it was only hiding the truth. His blood tried to hide the fact that he was going to die.

He closed his eyes for a few seconds, willing his thoughts to set themselves straight. Dwelling wouldn't fix anything. But no matter how many times he told himself that, he just couldn't get himself to think the right way. The past mattered just as much to him as the present and the future. Well, technically, he could be calling his past the future, since he had come from the future. Nope. No more confusing thoughts. He took a deep breath, realizing how stupid of an idea that was, for he coughed again. He swore he was going to choke on himself in here.

He opened his eyes, hearing a voice near him. He looked at the person who said it; a dwarf, named Thol, was pushing something towards him. He looked at it and saw that it was a pint of beer. He stared at it for longer than necessary before snapping out of it, thinking of his old man. What was he to say? He was never good in situations like this. He opened his mouth to speak, only for someone else to speak up for him. Why did his voice sound so familiar?

Call finally looked at the man who spoke to Thol, his own eyes widening upon seeing him there. There was no doubt about it; this was Athus. He looked younger than Call remembered, with something in his eyes that wasn't there before. Call immediately started looking around for Eirach, not seeing her anywhere. If Call only asked for his age, he would've probably been able to do the math and figure out how far back they traveled. But of course he hadn't thought of that. He was too busy with everything else that was happening, along with the pain he suffered through.

"Athus...?" he repeated, with recognition in his voice, not caring who heard him. Perhaps this Athus wouldn't even know him. That would make things embarrassing if Call suddenly blabbed to him like he knew him, which he did. He looked down at his Mark, holding his wrist out in front of him to study it. He dropped Lucine's hand for a moment to trace it, applying the Soothing to it. As it usually did, any pain existing within the Mark faded for a few moments before it went back to normal. He moved his hand back to Lucine's, gripping it again, hoping he wasn't bothering her with how many times he had held it. He saw the scar that was cut off by the Mark, two small lines on each side of the tattoo swimming under his skin. That was where he was made to stab himself. He remembered the burning pain he felt when he was branded, and he most certainly remembered the molten metal filling the wound, like if someone filled a glass of water.

Except in that case, the water hurt.

A lot.

---

Thalia watched as the group headed to a tavern, subconsciously pulling the masked stranger along with her. She wanted to hear what they had to say, but she didn't want to lose Callum in the crowd either. She stopped outside of the tavern, unsure of whether or not she wanted to drag the stranger in there with her. They might not want to go in, after all. She looked at them again, with Raven still studying them, barking.

"So what did you want to say?" she asked them again, staying outside of the tavern. She hoped none of them would get into trouble. She had heard what happened when the group entered a tavern before, and she didn't like what she had to hear. Her brother was hurt in that tavern, back before they were taken here. She hoped he wouldn't get himself hurt in this one... or drunk.

---

D**mit, where are you...?" the Whisper uttered irritably. It was still flying through the air, all over the city, searching for June. It had even flown a little lower just to get a better look, but it still couldn't find her. It didn't take the time to admire any views it would've gotten from up here. It didn't know of the wilderness. It didn't really know anything about the world, really. It had just come into existence not too long ago, brought here by the Entity. Speaking of the Entity, it wondered where it was at the moment. It wasn't in its mind anymore, that much was true. It had felt the Curse leave its mind as soon as everyone's souls were ripped from their bodies.

They had been given another chance.

It continued to search for June, going so far as to fly outside of Colsar. It was going away from the Safe City, looking around, becoming frustrated. Tem had said she was here. But what if she was on the other side of the world? It couldn't go as fast as it wanted to, for it could very well miss her by an inch. It growled under its breath, considering going back, until it spotted someone face down on the ground, trying to get up. It flew down closer to her, studying her as it landed on the ground, taking a few steps towards her and squinting. She looked younger, yet she looked familiar. It remembered viewing Call's memories of June and nodded to itself.

That was June.

There was no doubt about it.

"Hello, miss," it greeted, crouching next to her. It knew she was probably going to jump on it as soon as she saw it, but it didn't care. Why would it care? "You must be June. I'm the Whisper. Your bond sent me to find you. Tem, I believe. She's in Colsar, along with the others." It paused briefly, wondering if it should carry her back to the city or let her walk herself. Which one would prevent it from being beaten to a pulp? More importantly, why should it even care?

Tentatively, it held out a hand to help her up, twirling its cane in the other. It felt uncomfortable doing this, but it felt obligated to. It shouldn't care how it felt. It shouldn't care how anyone felt, really. What was it even doing? "Do you need help up?" it asked, grinning. "I can fly you back, or I can let you go back yourself. Whichever one is faster."

It briefly wondered what it could do with the bond it and Call now shared. It closed its eye, remembering how it spoke to him non-verbally, with no one else able to hear it. Hey kid, it thought, focusing on Call. Within a minute, he got a reply.

What the hell!? How are you talking to me!? You aren't in my mind anymore! How, what, why-!?

Calm down kid, you're going to have another panic attack if you keep this up. The reason we're able to do this is because we're bonded together now.

Wait... not like...

What? No! Not like Tem and June! Geez, you've made this very awkward...

What are you doing in my head? Where are you? What are you doing?

Slow down. One question at a time.

Sorry...

Anyways. I found June. She's outside of the city.

June? She's here?

Yep. You should probably tell Tem I found her. I can't tell her, anyhow. We're going to be coming back to the city now, assuming this Sunvaar doesn't beat me to a pulp.

I seriously hope not. I'll probably feel it too.

Wow, you hit that one right on the head.

Wait, what-

ANYWAYS, I'll be getting her back to you guys. Where are you all currently? That's what I came to know.

We're in a tavern, in a guardhouse.

Wherever that's supposed to be.

...

Whatever, I'll find it.

You sure?

Don't ask me that again.

I didn't mean to-

Forget it, kiddo. We'll start heading there as soon as we can.

With that, the Whisper said nothing more, or rather, thought nothing more, waiting for June's response. It soon saw something in the air. It didn't know who she was, or how it could read the gender of the creature flying above them, but they needed help.

"Heya!" it shouted, waving its cane to try and get her attention. "Do you think you could help us down here?" It could've just flown up there, but it had to make sure no one attacked June while it was up there. But why did it care? That was the question it kept asking itself, and it was going to drive it insane if the answer wasn't found soon.