tushanshu_logs | Just One Mistake (July Catch All)

Entry tags:

Just One Mistake (July Catch All)

Characters: Valdis and open
Date: July 8th and onwards
Location: Various
Situation: Various
Warnings/Rating: In headers

On top of Wan's disappearance, the attack on Anton and Anton's subsequent illness, the vision had taken its toll on her both emotionally and physically. It seemed that Malicant's influence would never truly be gone from Keeliai. The Cultists, the soul gems and now this message that had somehow reached almost all of the other foreigners through a power she shouldn't have been able to access. The events of last month seemed to pale in comparison to the trauma of seeing the last moments of the five hatchlings. Her hatred and fear of Malicant had been rekindled and without Wan, she didn't know how she could curb either emotion. The other two people she could rely on were in no condition to help, Anton was too delicate right now and Raine had lost her brother. Those foreigners who hadn't experienced Malicant's reign were probably confused by the vision, having no reason to understand, and those that did probably hated her for what had happened. Zelgadis and Bakura had both lost their hatchlings, and she had inadvertently forced them to relive those moments. It seemed that, no matter what she did, she always screwed everything up.

[OOC: please use format: Name | Date |Location |Content Warning, if you are posting your own starter. this is for my sanity. PM if you want me to set up a starter. This is also the follow up log for The Vision log]

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He wasn't doing anything particularly special when the call came in. Mundane chores to keep the Hotel running smoothly, so that Anton wouldn't have to bother. He usually kept his radio on the top of the front desk whenever he was around it, just in case, although no one ever called him.

...wait, was that?

No, really. No one ever calls him.

Eyebrows knitting together, Erskine reached for the radio when Valdis's voice came through.

"I need help."

Fire Sector. He could find that. The Hotel could manage without him for a few minutes. One last glance in Anton's direction, to make sure Shudder was keeping to his rest, and Erskine was out the door.

"I'm coming," he replied into the radio, hoping to God he sounded more reassuring than he thought he did. "I can get to the Fire Sector but you're going to have to guide me from there, I barely know my way around. Keep talking."

For a few seconds she was afraid he wouldn't answer, so relief washed over her when his voice came over the radio. Keep talking? Give directions? She could barely think straight, knew she was going back into shock, but at least she wasn't dying anymore, thanks to Bakura.

Dying. There was enough blood on her and on the ground that she should be dead. Anyone who had seen war would know that at first glance. Erskine was sensitive, perhaps this had been the wrong call, but it was too late now.

"The Plaza near the main market," she replied finally, "Any of the Kedan near the Hotel will know where it is." She waved a shaking hand at a kedan who was brave enough to approach her, noting his concern, but dismissing him anyway. She eyed the small contingent of Snakes that had appeared at the edges of the plaza.

Even if it hadn't already, this whole fiasco was going to get back to Yunxu. Once the Kedan had backed off, she reached out and picked up Bakura's ring, the movement bringing another wave of nausea.

"Please hurry."

The pause before her answer was enough to let him know that bolting from the Hotel had been the correct response. She'd said she needed help. Erskine hadn't bothered to ask what kind, or how bad is it. He thought he knew Valdis well enough by now to know that she didn't ask for help lightly, wouldn't ask without being straightforward about it unless something was very, very wrong.

A quick check with a couple of kedan sent him the right direction, he hoped, now outright running toward the Fire Sector. "I'm trying," he replied. "I'm almost there, I think. Hold on. I'll be there soon."

He ducked around a cluster of kedan, pressing unthinking hands to shoulders and backs to keep from knocking anyone over, darted around a corner. All that was left was a straight shot to the Plaza, or so he'd been led to believe. Erskine clicked his radio on one more time. "Nearly there, Valdis. Hold on."

And then he was kneeling beside her, and the sheer amount of blood made his stomach twist painfully. He'd seen that amount of blood come from people in the war so many times. Nine times out of ten, they'd ended up buried shortly thereafter. Erskine didn't have an issue with the blood itself, however; he'd been a soldier too long, wouldn't have survived with a weak stomach like that. Instead he pressed fingers gently to her forehead, her neck, stared into her eyes, assessing the damage.

"What the hell happened?"

The Snakes merely hung out at the edge of the plaza, watching. The Kedan who had approached her still stood nearby, occasionally shooing away anyone who got too close. The clatter of shoes against the ground was the first sign that Erskine had arrived. The kedan, recognizing him as a foreigner, stepped aside to let him pass, but didn't leave, still watching them carefully.

She might have laughed at the phrasing of that question if she wasn't so deep in shock. Her skin was paler than normal, cold to the touch and her pulse elevated, her pupils dilated despite the brightness of the day. She tried to steady her breathing, to make the world stop shifting so that she could answer.

"She was attacked by a man with white hair," answered the kedan who was standing guard. "They fought for a time, and then a great darkness appeared and went after the man. She turned her sword on herself and the darkness vanished." he paused, lifting his head to look at the Snakes, who hadn't moved from their position. "It was unsettling..." He shook his head, "The man ran over and did..something, then he disappeared."

One of the Snakes finally started forward and the Kedan looked over at him and then back at Erskine, "I wish I could be of more help, but I don't understand you foreigners or your powers." The other Snakes began to move as well, most drifting back into the crowd and others moving toward them.

"Erskine," Valdis said, finally finding words, though her voice trembled, "We need to go."

Dammit, why hadn't Valdis called Raine or Aqua instead of him?

Ravel listened to the kedan with half an ear, making note of the important points: man with white hair, darkness... turning the sword on herself. Right. He nodded absently at the man, more intent on trying to ascertain if there were any wounds that needed immediate attention.

The shock. The shock was going to be the biggest problem, from what he could tell. They didn't have the luxury of leaving her here with her feet elevated until a healer arrived. They had to go now. He'd have to do the best he could--he was no healer, but he knew enough battlefield medicine to be of some small use. Erskine shrugged out of his suit jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Warmth. Basic first aid for shock.

"We will," he acknowledged with a nod. "Just let me-"

He reached for Valdis's sword and immediately recoiled upon grasping the hilt. Magic. It felt... wrong.

Suck it up, Ravel. They didn't have time for this.

Gripped the sword again, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach. Sword in its scabbard. There.

That done, he slipped his arms under Valdis and cradled her to his chest, levered himself up to his feet. "We need to get you to a healer. Can you call Raine?"

There wasn't a single wound to be found and if she hadn't been so deep in shock, she might have been able to move under her own power. The light weight of his jacket on her shoulders brought back memories, memories that were both painful and happy at the same time. It was almost too easy to imagine that it was Dante lifting her from the ground again and not Erskine, but she pushed the thought away.

She felt oddly secure in his arms, a far cry from her opinion of him when they first met. And her sword hadn't rejected him, proof that he didn't carry the same darkness that others did, that she did.

"Milyn," she said softly, resting her head against his chest and closing her eyes. "Not Raine." Because Raine was friends with Bakura, and, though she hadn't meant to, she had caused his death.

Valdis was in no shape to call anyone, and Erskine didn't want to have to stop, set her down, pull out his radio, and heft her back up again. The extra movement couldn't be good for her and it would cost them time he wasn't sure they had. They'd just have to go straight there. He didn't think to question why they needed to visit Milyn instead of Raine.

Not for the first time recently--not even for the first time directly following an attack on a friend, as sad as it was--Erskine cursed himself for not getting out and learning more about the city while he'd had the chance. What good was feeling secure within the Hotel if everyone he knew was suddenly getting hurt and he didn't even know how to help them?

Ah, his old friend guilt.

He'd been meaning to visit Milyn, he really had. He'd just... not quite made it.

"Would you believe I can count the number of times I've been out of the Hotel on one hand?" he chuckled, trying to keep his mood light for Valdis's sake as he crossed the plaza. "Well, no, that's not strictly true anymore. I think I'm up to two hands. Look at me go.

"Er. Where are we going, then?"

He was being funny to cover up his nervousness, she appreciated that, but his guilt confused her. It wasn't as if it was his fault this had happened and to be honest she wasn't really certain who to blame for it. But then again, sometimes you couldn't assign blame to anything. She laughed softly, trying to make him feel better.

She couldn't remember the last time weakness had lingered for so long, even after the fight with Anton she had recovered completely within a few hours and even then she had felt good enough to bicker with Dante almost immediately after reviving. Right now, she simply wanted to sleep, to close her eyes and slip away into the Dreaming. But she wouldn't, she was far too stubborn.

"Water Sector."

"Ah, you're awake enough to laugh at me. I think you'll be all right."

Erskine grinned, or at least gave his best approximation of a grin considering the circumstances, and set his feet toward the Hotel. He didn't know much about the city, but he'd learned early on that the best way to get from one Sector to another was through the Hotel. They moved quickly, considering how careful he was trying to be--shock was nothing to fool with. They'd be lucky if she even survived the trek across the city, if her body operated anything like a normal human's. Thankfully, despite the suspect care he'd been taking of himself for the last few months, Valdis was light in his arms.

By the time they reached the Hotel, Erskine had revised his plan. He couldn't keep moving Valdis. The Hotel was warm and comfortable and safe. They were just going to have to find a healer to come to them.

Milyn didn't pick up on the radio, so Erskine tucked Valdis into one of the more comfortable chairs in the common room--still wrapped in his jacket, to keep the blood off of Anton's upholstery--and ran for the console to leave her a message.

She fell silent, closing her eyes and concentrating on breathing. Her body wouldn't heal on its own this time, that was a gift from the Void and she currently had no access to its power. Her awareness was muted, her senses dulled, her body in shock, but her dark magic was silent and, despite the circumstances, she felt relief.

The familiar scents of the Hotel further soothed her, safety gave her leave to sleep and the chair was comfortable. She didn't remember exactly what had happened after Michael had stabbed her with Revelations, but at that time she hadn't had a soul. This time, she had both the Void and a soul. This was new to her. Bakura had prevented her from dying, but now, instead of dying from an injury, she was simply going into shock and that could be just as deadly.

Solomon was working at the Healer's Guild when he felt the surge of darkness elsewhere in the city. It was the first time he'd felt that sort of thing since losing his eyesight and it rose up over the city like smoke. From this distance, he couldn't tell whether there were other casualties or not.

And then just like that it was gone.

For some moments Solomon stood very still. He had to think before he acted. If Valdis had lost control of her Void it wouldn't have disappeared quite so quickly, so that difficulty was taken care of. But how many people could divert it with that ... suddenness? Skulduggery would make it worse. Shudder talking her down would have felt like it faded rather than simply vanished. And it hadn't been Solomon, nor would the effect have been the same from a distance.

There was only one person Solomon knew, offhand, who had the power to make it appear as if a giant metaphysical mouth had simply vanished.

He could go to the location of the magical surge ... but he couldn't use his shadow-walking to a great enough distance yet. By the time he arrived someone would surely have gotten there first. Ordinarily he would wait here at the Guild in the expectation they would go there--but Valdis was involved, and had already been hurt or hurt others enough that Solomon doubted she would want to come so easily to Raine. The 'goddess' had too much pride for that.

Milyn's clinic seemed the other alternative, except ... If the Void was still an issue, Shudder's Hotel would be the best place for its wards and its proprietor. It was also the easiest way to move between sectors, if Valdis was coming to Milyn.

Without alerting anyone to the fact that he'd left, Solomon proceeded toward the nearest Hotel entrance in a series of shadow-jumps and went in, totally ignoring Ravel's openly wounded soul and not bothering to look for Shudder's slow-revolving axis, and moving toward the sense of Valdis's being.

She seemed dim. Dim and feverish, and only half there.

And there was something near her, an object he recognised, though he'd never seen it without the bond of Bakura's soul--the Ring. Solomon hadn't realised how much of what he was 'seeing' as Bakura's soul was the Ring.

"Where's Bakura?" he asked sharply.

She didn't hear or sense his approach, but the sound of his sharp voice jolted her from the fade. Solomon Wreath. Just the person she didn't want to see, well, other than Raine. She opened her eyes and tried to lift her head, but was immediately hit with another wave of dizziness and so quickly closed them again.

"I don't know," she replied softly, figuring that he deserved an answer while simultaneously hating herself for being so weak. "He summoned the Shadow Realm...tried to heal my injury and then he...disappeared."

Her speech was halting, choosing the right words almost too difficult in her current condition. Guilt. If she hadn't allowed Bakura to goad her, hadn't allowed her emotions to get out of hand, perhaps she wouldn't have summoned her dark magic. Her drastic action had been necessary at the time, destroying the Void before it could kill Bakura, but then Bakura had stupidly decided to prevent her from dying.

"Why didn't he just...let me die?" She took a deep breath, trying once again to steady her breathing. "I would have revived...eventually. Why...take the brunt of the Holy Magic away? He must have known..." The shock was making her ramble, why couldn't her body just shut down and reset like it was supposed to. "Revelations banishes darkness...that's why I..." She sighed, frustrated by everything right now, "I...don't have the strength for this."

Ravel, unfortunately, had missed most of the exchange between Solomon and Valdis. He'd been on the console calling Milyn, hoping to get the healer here before Valdis succumbed to the shock. When he turned away, satisfied that he'd done what he could, it was with the intention of making Valdis more comfortable, performing whatever other minor first aid he could remember while they waited.

And then he saw Solomon, and Ravel's mood instantly dipped.

They still hadn't spoken since Ravel had arrived in Keeliai. Hadn't spoken, in fact, since Ravel had granted him amnesty back in Ireland. Reluctantly granted him amnesty. Skulduggery may have decided to forgive and forget, but Erskine still wasn't fond of Wreath--no matter how much he'd touted forgiveness for past misdeeds to Ghastly.

The memory had his heart crawling up into his throat as he returned to Valdis's side.

"Wreath."

A curt acknowledgment, nothing more, and Erskine moved instead to tend to Valdis, drawing his jacket tighter around her. "Milyn will be here soon," he said. "We should get you onto one of the sofas, elevate your feet. Come on." He slipped both arms around Valdis to lift her, gently, for what would hopefully be the last time before she could be healed.

More information than Solomon had expected, and Valdis sounded as bad as she felt. For some moments Solomon stood there, without acknowledging Ravel's curt greeting, turning information over in his head. The Void had come into play but it hadn't been Bakura who stopped it, it had been Valdis--by turning her sword on herself, apparently.

Solomon knew the sword, in a way; he couldn't register magic, usually, but Valdis's sword showed crystalline like death, while being warm in the manner of life. It was a conundrum Solomon had no intention of approaching, just in case, but apparently it was more than just a magic blade. Valdis using it on herself to stop the Void was frankly an element of control Solomon hadn't expected of her, though it wasn't much of a consolation--the fact the Void got out to begin with meant she still lacked it. And she thought he was dangerous.

Regardless. Bakura had switched their roles, by the sounds of it--traded one body for another. The khajbit could do that.

"He did it," Solomon said finally, "because Bakura never forces anyone into a position he's not also willing to take himself." His tone was matter-of-fact, devoid of accusation or even his usual sarcasm. "With your permission?"

He pointed to the Ring sitting on the table beside Valdis's chair. He knew it was there because he knew the Ring, but he didn't know whether she had noticed it in her state and had no intention of touching it without her permission. If she'd fought with Bakura and won, even won by default, the Ring would recognise her as owner. Solomon remembered that much from his and Bakura's early conversations--stories of priests fighting for ownership of the Millennium Items.

She hated this. Hated how Erskine had to carry her from the fire sector, how weak she felt and how she couldn't feel anything to the level she was used to. And now even Solomon Wreath pitied her, speaking without his usual disdain or sarcasm, it was infuriating, but being angry was useless, at least she could take comfort in the fact that Erskine didn't seem to like Solomon either.

She opened her eyes again, looking at where Solomon pointed, relieved that it didn't come with dizziness this time. The Ring. She had almost forgotten that it was there. She didn't reply, waiting until Erskine had her settled on one of the sofas.

"Go ahead." she said, wondering why exactly the man needed her permission to pick up Bakura's ring. "He's not dead is he?"

That was one of her worst fears. Even though Bakura had attacked her first, even though she hadn't intended for him to die, Raine would probably never forgive her .

Once Valdis was on the sofa, Erskine set to making her as comfortable as possible. He turned and flicked a hand at the fire nearby, set the flames blazing higher with a gesture to flood the immediate area with more warmth. Tucked the jacket around her closer. Propped her feet up on the arm of the sofa--the first thing they always suggested, elevate the feet, in the event of shock--and then used a couple of pillows to support her legs. He'd all but tuned Solomon out and so barely registered when the man spoke Bakura's name. In fact, it wasn't until Valdis asked after Bakura that Erskine actually stopped to think about it.

Unfortunately, nothing either Valdis or Solomon had said in the time that Ravel was paying attention would seem to indicate that Valdis and Bakura had been fighting each other.

Without so much as a glance back at the necromancer, Ravel paused what he was doing to look at Valdis. "Bakura was a part of this too? What happened?"

"That's what I'm about to find out," said Solomon, and gestured so the Ring was lifted by a tendril of a shadow and flown to his hand. Even if Bakura had died, Solomon already knew the man would return, if only due to the link between his soul and the turtle. At least, that's what had happened before. Now, with Bakura's soul in the state it was ... Solomon had to be sure.

"Bakura challenged Valdis to a shadow-game and lost," Solomon answered Ravel absently. He held the Ring gently, didn't put any magic into it; he wasn't that unwise. Instead he read it passively, like he did with shadows and souls, read its presence and how that might have changed. What it was missing from when he'd last spoken to Bakura, and whether that 'missing' bit was still in some fashion evident--if hidden.

To all outward appearances he went still, his brow furrowed but staring into the distance as he concentrated.

Milyn arrived then, carrying with her her medical bag and wearing a very worried expression.

"Good for keeping her warm," she said, nodding at the stoked fire; the temperature difference in this area of the room was noticeably higher. At least the sofa was a good resting place for her at the moment, that she didn't need to be moved yet again. Addressing Erskine and Solomon, she instructed, "Please go and find me a proper blanket, much as your jacket is gentlemanly, it's covered in blood, and a basin of warm water, not hot, and for goodness sake a clean set of clothes for her, would you want to be laying around in your own mess."

Then she turned back to Valdis, she smiled and patted the woman's cheek in a motherly way. "You just stay awake now, won't you?" She reached into her bag and took out a metal tin of something dried and leafy, like a cross between loose leaf tea and tobacco. "Here you go, dear, just hold this in your mouth for a moment, it'll dissolve right down, little bit of uniea is good for you. There's a good girl."

The leaves would indeed dissolve, a bit like cotton candy, producing a caramel-like taste and a comfortable warming sensation through Valdis' whole body that would further stave off the onset of shock, and provide a relaxing sort of swaying sensation that wouldn't further cloud her senses.

Ravel stepped back when Milyn arrived, remembering her appearance at least from the network if having never actually met her in person. He stayed close, ready to be an extra set of hands should they be required, but he'd been around battlefield medics enough to know not to be too close.

At the list of instructions he nodded, then shot Solomon an appraising look and rolled his eyes. Fat lot of help Wreath was going to be, if the man even intended to help at all.

"Right. I'll be right back, Valdis."

Water and blankets were priorities. He set off to retrieve those items, intending to do some breaking and entering into Valdis's room--hopefully sanctioned enough to keep Anton off his back--for clothing only after the first items were returned to Milyn.

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Just One Mistake (July Catch All)

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