#texblades

god damnit blades and vortex not again this happens EVERY WEDNESDAY.

"Sorry to say, but I haven’t seen anyone matching that description in the tavern today,” The human admitted, quickly jotting down the order on a small notebook he carried. His memory hadn’t failed him yet, but it never hurt to give himself a reminder. Blue eyes - perhaps a little too blue to be completely natural - glanced around the tavern floor as if to confirm before looking back at Fjord.

“FJORD!” Nott gave a frustrated yell, as she had zero hopes of catching the minotaur’s attention now with Fjord’s body, spindly and ineffectual though it was, standing in front of her. The Sunbreaker passed by, heavy footfalls enough to rattle her teeth slightly, which she bared out of frustration.

Another enraged scream. And then she sunk those sharp teeth into the back of Fjord’s thigh.

"of course."

Fjord back to his usual green orcish self, instead of the intimidating human volstrucker he'd disguised himself as for the purposes of their mission.

The necklaces now in their possession and distributed amongst their group for attunement, it felt like a job well done. However Fjord purposely took time out to check in with Caleb.

"I would ask if you're okay, but I realise that's probably a ridiculous question." Throwing the traumatized head first into the source of their trauma, no one could possibly come out of that okay.

"I think you handled all of that with tremendous bravery.. I can't begin to imagine how horrific it must have been for you. You should be proud of how far you've come.."

Fjord tucks his necklace under his armour, choosing to focus on his friend first. They were safe enough for now.

"is there anything you need from me Caleb? Anything I can do to.. make this easier?"

IT   WOULD   HAVE   BEEN   SO   MUCH   EASIER   TO   LET   GO   IN   THE   SANATORIUM.         without   any   sort   of   restraint,   all   of   it   coming   from   fjord,   he   knows   what   he   would   have   done;      he   knows   what   he   plans   to   do   when   he   steps   into   that   place.      and   though   it’s   what   he   wants,   he   asks   for   fjord   for   a   reason,   and   fjord   delivers.  

he   looks   out   over   the   ocean   of   nicodranas,   knees   pulled   close   to   his   chest,   gripping   the   newly-attuned   amulet   tightly   in   one   hand,   the   other   combing   idly   through   the   sand.      he   swallows   down   a   sharp   lump   in   his   throat.            “      it   looked   exactly   the   same,      ”            he   says,   quiet   and   small,   with   little   to   no   inflection   in   his   voice.            “      exactly   .   .   .      the   same   .   .   .      ”

memories   from   that   time   and   the   times   before   are   foggy.      sometimes   they   flood   in   with   sharpest   clarity.      sometimes,   there   are   large   gaps   he   cannot   fill   if   he   tried.      but   that   hallway   below   vergessen   .   .   .      that   place   .   .   .      he   remembers   it   perfectly   well.      the   people   within   may   have   changed,   but   nothing   else.  

Caleb had been having weird dreams lately, memories of the academy but not like he’d remembered it before, the training was the same, but there were patches that were different, magical rituals they’d gone through binding their lives together and swearing their allegiance to the empire till death.  He’d often wake up from these dreams, or perhaps nightmares drenched in sweat, the scars on his arms pulsing with pain like they hadn’t since they were new. He would get up, running his hands through his reddish brown curls, and often pad into the living room or some other area in the house rather than face what might happen in his dreams should he fall asleep again but he often ended up falling asleep in a chair in the library instead. But recently things had been getting a little more interesting, he had been losing time, doing things he didn't remember, casting spells he didn't remember, it was terrifying but as was his nature, he didn't speak about it, but it would only be a matter of time before he was sure that the Nein had noticed, only a matter of time before someone approached him and voiced concern, be that Jester prying or Fjord of Caduceus expressing concern, or Beau cornering him and forcing him to explain at threat of bodily harm. (He definitely hoped it wouldn’t be the last one.) 

Today he was in the in the library once more, but this time intentionally to study, trying to figure out what could be causing this current issue, why someone with a perfect memory was suddenly experiencing breaks in it, it didn’t make sense, Caleb remembered everything and suddenly he didn't. He had thought maybe he had been charmed, or cursed, but they hadn’t encountered any other magic users and he trusted Fjord, Caduceus, Jester, and Essek not to cast anything on him without his consent, so what the hell was going on? 

She couldn’t help but shriek with laughter as he splashed her, her grin dimpling her freckled cheeks. She kicked a splash of water back at him in retaliation. “I’d never replace you with Sabian! How could you ever think that?” Her hand went to her chest in playful shock, but she couldn’t make herself stop grinning.

“nope, you ain’t touched a drop.” The half orc’s hands placed firmly on the wizard’s shoulders, guiding him to a suitable place for him to rest. “must be somethin’ to do with that spell they blindsided you with.”

   "ja, okay---” that he has trouble pining exactly when and why he would have dunked his face into anything remotely alcoholic should have been the first give-away that this was something not even remotely close. despite, well--- feeling as if it were. brows furrow together as he lets himself be guided, feet awfully wonky and unable to quite find purchase on the ground, which seems to be spinning a lot more than caleb would have liked it to. 

“I saw it hit you…” a giant club had slammed down on her, or so he thought. Now they were out of the fray, and he was calming down, Fjord could think a little clearer he started to make sense of it all.

“..it was your duplicate.. that thing attacked your duplicate.. motherfuck… I almost had a coronary over your it hittin’ your duplicate…”

@tex-blades

“That’s kinda the point Fjord, it’s suppose to hit the duplicate - I know it’s pretty hard to tell us apart.”

She wants to make it into a joke, to make him laugh but it seemed like maybe that was a bad idea? She can’t tell.

“I just hope Caduceus doesn’t get them mixed up when he’s trying to heal me. That would not be good.”

She’ll give him a slight push, her signature grin still living there on her lips.