the Abyss - Pitch black as ever. If only you had some light…

@ninocence @pheraean

Like a sudden chill flickering out a flame, in an instant, it was night. Not even do the stars above offer any hospitality, for they don’t seem to shine as bright. Pale comparisons to the true and only refuge in this endless blackness; bioluminescent blooms, that some of their lot had even fashioned into crowns. There was little to do between poor visibility and incoming storms than fortify their shelter. But curiously, Ephidel took the short walk to the steep drop off between building.

Not even in brightest day did the sun illuminate much of this abyss, but her reach could only go so far. But his-

Ephidel knelt by the abyss’s edge and removed his crown, dipping it just below the surface and bringing light back to the depths.

@ninocence

"Leif?" Ethlyn calls out for her son as she walks into the Golden Deer classroom. She's been looking for him all morning. She knocked on his door and checked the training grounds and the dining hall but there's been no sign of him. Or maybe she's just missed him. Either way, she's here now and there's still no sign of him.

She isn't alone though. Maybe this girl could help? "You haven't seen my son, have you? Leif Claus? He's a student in the class and, well, I'm trying to give him this." She holds up a very poorly woven blue scarf. Her tension is all over the place leaving it awfully misshapen and it seems far too short to properly wrap around an adult man's neck but she made it.

“And.. there, that should do it.” Nils said as he carefully put the bandaid on the girl’s knee. Looking over her leg one more time to check for any further injuries. He felt a little bad, considering it was his inexperience with magic that caused her to fall over and scrape her knee in the first place. Thankfully only her knee got the worst of it, which had now been covered by a bandaid.

reyson is prone to injuries. it's just in his nature, reckless, un-heronlike. he should be past embarrassment at such things, and yet... he is distinctly not.

none of the frustration ebbs, alas, but it's lessened by the girl assisting him with his injuries. as she presses her lips to his bandage, in a gesture reminiscent of something he remembers an elder sibling doing to him when he was small, he gently ruffles her hair.

The sight (sound, really) of her brother piques Nino's interest enough to poke her head fully into the doorway, but before she could venture inside, another, much closer figure catches her attention.

"O-oh, Miss Ethlyn!!" Calling a greeting, Nino scurries over, wide eyes still taking in her surroundings now that she was inside the room, before turning, just as awestruck, to the lady before her, "Wow, your dress is so pretty!! Is this a party? I came over 'cause I smelled really nice food cooking..."

It'd be bad to interrupt them if it turned out to be some private, important thing, but Miss Ethlyn was always so nice to her, so maybe she won't get mad for just asking. Still, Nino shuffles her a little on the spot as she asks, "Is... is it ok if I have some too?" It's ok even if she couldn't, really!! Linus might save her something, after all.

Ethlyn frowns. Nino speaks as though this is the first she has learned of the party and that is completely unacceptable. There was an invitation for her. Ethlyn had made sure of that. That it had not been properly delivered, that Nino might have missed out, that Nino might feel as though she is unwelcome--Ethlyn will not stand for any of that.

There are no teasing scolds for Nino, just a welcoming arm placed around her shoulders and a face that lights warm with a smile.

"Nino, you're supposed to be here. Your family and my family." Ethlyn's expression turns mischievous and playful as she turns Nino to face the table where Altena and Linus are sitting. "He is your family, isn't he? The one over there next to my daughter? You have the same name after all..."

"Aaaaand there. That should be that!" Ethlyn removes her hands from Nino's wrist after her magic heals its sprain. Poor Nino had fallen during a training exercise and landed wrong but, luckily, Ethlyn had been there to fix her up right away.

It was gratifying to see a smile out of the girl, even if it was small and shy. The kid had been through enough shit already, she deserved good times and Linus was personally going to make sure that happened. Or else. And while Nino certainly seemed surprised to see him, she didn’t seem as excited as a kid her age should be after being handed a bag of sweets. Honestly, she seemed kinda nervous...or something?

“Mad? At you...?” Linus asked, something in his chest sinking a bit at the question. There had been more than enough to get pissed about recently, and while those fires hadn’t dimmed much for Linus despite how things were now beyond his ability to affect, he didn’t really associate Nino with any of it. “‘Course not, sis! I’ve been missin’ the hell outta ya!”

It was one of the few things that Linus and Lloyd had ever fought about. Linus wanted to go back for Ninoa after everything was over. Lloyd didn’t think it was safe for her to do so. He’d called bullshit on that immediately, but...even he knew they weren’t in a great position at the time. But fuck that, honestly. For all the aimless wandering they’d done, where was the big risk that would have put Nino in too much danger with them around?! It would have been one more mouth to feed, and that was all! They could have done that! They would have figured it out!

But whatever. What’s done is done, and right now, Nino was here and so were they. He finally had most of what remained of his family in one place, and he was going to die before he let anything change that.