November catchall | and every city was a gift

[ruinsprofessor]

Characters: Raine Sage, others!
Date: any November
Location: Keeliai, specifically apartment, Healers' Guild, and others
Situation: a few!
Warnings/Rating: none yet, will update if that changes



A | the usual suspects

Raine can usually be found either in her apartment in Earth sector, usually in the evenings or early afternoons of her few off days, or at the Healers' Guild. She doesn't vary her routine all that much, having relaxed a little from the worries of earlier months.

She's normally happy enough to greet people, though if you go to find her at the Guild she may be in her office and rather engrossed in administrative duties or magical research. Or both, where applicable. She is, however, easily roustable for emergencies.

B | others tba as necessary, inquire to Makari

Comments

A

[backwordscompatible]

Zatanna had...never been to the Healers' Guild before.

It seemed silly in hindsight, but she'd had her reasons. Nothing personal, of course. Just a longstanding believe that anyone outside her family would have been able to do little to help with her training. Including herself. Though far slower than it might have otherwise been had her father been around to teacher her more...she'd made great strides over the last four years.

Still...after so long...her curiosity finally got the better of it. About time, too. Following the directions she'd gotten, she made it all the way to the entrance of the guilt before offering a healthy knock at the door.

"Hello? Anyone here?"

[ruinsprofessor]

The door to the Guild was a double one, a large set that opened into an open, sunlit hall. Raine had been nearby, drawn away from the reception desk by a conversation with one of her kedan students on the way out the door. At the knock she blinked, finished the sentence she was in the middle of. "One moment," she said to her student, and crossed to tug the door open, curious. "Ah. Hello, Zatanna. Can I help you with something?" She did recognize the young woman, though for the most part any of their interactions had been strictly business, whether magical or otherwise, nothing exceptionally personal.

[backwordscompatible]

She wasn't expecting overly familiar greetings. Pleasant as Raine was upon seeing her, Zatanna smiled nevertheless.

"Call it professional curiosity." After all, her own innate abilities were hardly a secret. (Once upon a time, there was literally not a single person on the Turtle who didn't know what she was capable of.) "I'm a little ashamed to admit...I don't think I've ever really been here before. You have quite the place."

[ruinsprofessor]

"I can only really take credit for the renewal," Raine said. The work she put in, of course, but she was familiar with the way the grandiose architecture struck people initially, and that had been there all along. "The building had simply gone defunct, and Milyn thought it would be best that its usage was picked up again in the same spirit. Give me one moment--" She nodded a brief apology and detoured back to the kedan she'd been talking to before.

The rest of the conversation was short, quiet, and ended in smiles, both women evidently satisfied with the exchange. When that was settled, and her student on her way, Raine circled back to Zatanna. "My apologies. You caught me right in the middle of something. You said you were curious; were you simply hoping to look around, or did you have more detailed studies in mind?"

[backwordscompatible]

Given the circumstances of her arrival, Zatanna had absolutely not qualms with having to wait. She did habitually shift her weight several times before Raine returned, but that was all on her and no one else.

"No, it's totally fine." A single waved hand in the air. The delay was already forgiven and forgotten. "I'm actually not quite sure yet. Maybe a bit of the former to see if there's a chance at the latter?"

(After all, she still wasn't entirely convinced there was much the Healer's Guild could do for her, specifically...but she wouldn't object to being proven wrong.)

[ruinsprofessor]

"All right." Raine thought briefly, comparing time against her responsibilities for the day, then nodded. "I have a little time now, so I can show you around and fill you in on what we've been doing here at the same time. Has any of your study previously been directed specifically at healing?" She tipped her head to the side, a curious sort of a gesture. "I know you're a mage, but I'm not familiar with the specifics of your abilities."

[backwordscompatible]

"That's 'cause there really are no specifics."

It sounded boastful to say, but she shrugged it off. It's not like she was claiming she was all-powerful or anything like that. Her magic certainly had its limits, and she was well aware of those limits. Which was why she didn't go around blabbing those first.

"If the spell I need to cast is within my power levels to do so, then all I need is the right spell. Doesn't matter if it's transformation, weather manipulation, illusion, levitation...you name it, and I'll probably figure out a way at some point."

[ruinsprofessor]

"Really?" Raine sounded intrigued, rather than incredulous. She began leading Zatanna into the building, through the doors at the other end of the hall, looking over at her rather than the area around them. It was obvious Raine was long familiar with the halls of the Guild by this point. "You would be exceptionally skilled at learning within the magical systems of other worlds, then, wouldn't you? Have you made any previous attempts to do so?"

[backwordscompatible]

She tried not to wince too noticeably. It didn't work.

"Kind of, yeah. It...didn't go so well."

Shortly before Sol's network post

[edgeoftheknife]

He was being bunnysitted.

Bunnysat?

Anton had taken to enlisting the aid of bunnysitters to watch Erskine, especially after the first few days when it became apparent that he was not, in fact, going to be changing back into a man anytime soon. Anton still watched him each day, still tucked him into his waistcoat for naps, but there were too many chores around the Hotel that needed Anton's attention now that Ravel was incapable of doing them. And surprisingly (at least to Erskine) there seemed to be no shortage of people willing to watch the little fluffball for a few hours here and there.

Raine was, perhaps, one of the more surprising of the volunteers. Erskine quite vividly recalled their last conversation of any real length. It had been helpful, yes, and necessary, but not necessarily heartwarming. He still didn't think they actually qualified as anything like friends. Yet here was Raine, carrying him through the door into her apartment.

Apparently it was a little easier to trust a tiny bunny rabbit than a sorcerer. Who knew?

[ruinsprofessor]

Perhaps they weren't precisely friends, per se, but there was something about being familiar with the vast majority of someone's darkest secrets that bestowed a sort of closeness, willing or not. Erskine was edging into the territory of family by now, though his position was closer to Zelos' than any other: that was to say, awkward and rife with the terrible knowledge of what he was capable, but strong nevertheless.

So when Anton had noted that he needed someone to bunnysit, Raine was happy enough to tuck Erskine into the pocket of her jacket -- surprisingly deep, and cleared out beforehand of the gels she usually kept there -- and to bring him home with her.

She wasn't overly worried about his relationship with Solomon, though perhaps assuming that rendering one party incapable of verbal communication would remove the majority of any possible contention between the two was a mistake.

Once inside, Raine liberated Erskine from her pocket, setting him on the low table in their living-room area, and stood back thoughtfully, considering his size and fuzziness. "I have a small chalkboard," she said in a moment. "I can write some basic answers on it for you, which should aid communication somewhat. 'Yes' and 'no,' of course..."

[edgeoftheknife]

Erskine was growing accustomed to being tucked into all manner of things. Anton's waistcoat. The hoods of sweatshirts. Skulduggery's suit and/or ribcage. It was actually quite nice, truth be told. It meant he didn't have to over-exert these tiny little legs of his, and it usually kept him warm and safe and comfortable. Plus he got around faster and could usually count on being petted for a while before and after hitching a ride.

If he didn't change back into a man soon, he was going to get lazy.

The bunny shuffled around the tabletop, scouting out the area. He'd never been in Raine's apartment. Never really visited anyone outside of the Hotel. Not a bad place at all, he had to admit.

At the suggestion of a chalkboard the bunny turned to Raine and lifted himself up on his hindquarters, pawing once at the air in response. What an excellent idea. Why had no one thought of it sooner? Wasn't watching him laboriously type out a few misspelled words on the console enough to spur someone to come up with a better plan?

[ruinsprofessor]

Raine watched him investigate the span of the table, bent to put herself closer to eye-level with the small rabbit. His intelligence had been relatively evident so far -- he responded when spoken to, even if the body language was often incomprehensible -- but he'd also seemed to enjoy the smaller creature comforts, such as being petted. She had to wonder how much of the rabbit brain ruled Erskine's consciousness at the moment...

It would be unethical to conduct experiments on him. "I'll go and fetch that," she said, in response to his pawing the air. It was a little bit of a leap, taking the gesture as a yes, but the chalkboard would make deciphering other responses easier. "Don't wander off."

With a short nod, Raine left Erskine, going to retrieve the chalkboard in question. It mostly saw use for her Egyptian lessons with Bakura, but this seemed an equally useful application.

[peacefullywreathed]

Solomon was in the office. He heard Raine come home, heard her speaking to someone, even felt the ripples that indicated a soul--but he assumed, at first, it was one he didn't know, and that was why it seemed dim. His fingers were resting on the pin-created maps on his corkboard, and he reached out for a notebook and ... didn't find it.

Hm. Not on the shelf, either. Where could it have gone? Possibly Raine had borrowed it; sometimes she had a look at his notes, for some sighted observations. If so, it would be in the living-room or the bedroom.

He stepped out of the office, mostly dressed in shoes and suit, even up to a waistcoat, but without a jacket and his sleeves rolled up. "Raine?" he asked, but she had already left the living-room, and instead Solomon was drawn by the ... actually somewhat familiar soul nearby. Quite familiar, rather. Solomon tipped his head, his gaze passing over the bunny unrealising. "Ravel? If you're here for designs on the Master Healer, we may have to have words."

His tone was dry rather than accusing. Ravel had never come to their apartment before, or seen the need.

[edgeoftheknife]

He knew that Raine and Wreath were together. He knew that probably meant they lived together. But would it have been so much to ask that Wreath not be home in this particular instance?

Not that Erskine and Solomon were necessarily at each other's throats these days. The bone puns over the network a couple of weeks previous had been amusing, and amiable, enough. It proved that they could hold a conversation, however strange and mocking a conversation it might be, without Erskine feeling the need to throttle Wreath with his own tie. That was surely progress.

Except now what the hell was he supposed to do, with Wreath blind and asking after him, and Ravel a goddamned bunny rabbit and incapable of speech?

Charades weren't going to cut it this time.

Erskine scoffed in his fluffy little way, crinkling his nose and padding to the other end of the table where a book sat. It look a bit of doing, several tiny nudges, but eventually Erskine managed to shove the book off the side of the table and send it to the floor with a THUMP.

[peacefullywreathed]

There was no answer, and Solomon lifted his eyebrow in lieu of a frown. Ravel's soul was strangely ... muted, almost twisted, but he still would have thought the man would answer. "The silent treatment, Ravel? Really, I thought--"

The thud cut him off and Solomon paused. Something was ... very strange, here. Ravel surely wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut with Solomon making quips at his expense, and there had been something pointed about the thud. It had come a few seconds too late to be a reaction to his appearance; therefore it had been an attempt to attract his attention.

"Ravel?" Solomon stepped forward, his fingers out to brush the table, and then he moved along it to find the chairs and see whether Ravel was in one of them. His senses were alert, just in case some idiotic kedan chose to rob the flat and didn't realise it belonged to the shadow man and the light healer.

[edgeoftheknife]

Ravel certainly wasn't in any of the chairs. He watched from the other end of the table as the necromancer approached, not entirely sure that he really wanted Wreath's attention after all. Maybe he should have just waited for Raine to return and explain everything. It would save him being alone with Wreath--at least with Wreath aware of him--and much more helpless than usual.

But Wreath was nearly upon him and short of running, Erskine was just going to have to find a way to get his attention. He didn't really expect Wreath to do anything to him, anyway. Especially not with Raine having taken responsibility of him from Anton.

He waited until Wreath was right next to him, fingers brushing the edge of the table as he moved, and then put a paw out to lightly tap Wreath's fingers. And then immediately hopped back a little, waiting for the expected flailing that usually comes from fingers being brushed by something unknown.

Apartment | Night of the 24th | CW: Nightmares and Blood

[redlightgreenlight]

She was dreaming again, but unlike her previous dreams, she was surrounded by darkness and a deep, swirling mist that whispered unintelligible things. She wanted to move, wanted to run, but she couldn’t, frozen in place by fear. Then a low slithering reached her ears and seven sets of bright red eyes became visible in the shadows. They blinked, and black coils became visible, curling around until a tail flicked in front of her, cutting off any escape she might have had. Then seven draconic heads became visible and she closed her eyes, biting her lip, as one of them moved forward. She could feel its breath on her skin, hear the rattle as it inhaled her scent. Then it withdrew with a quiet hiss.

You do not remember us, came seven voices in unison, Nor do you remember yourself.

The coils began to move again, scales dragging across the ground as the creature began to tighten the circle around her.

We could not protect us from the magic of the mad god. We had no choice but to withdraw to the deepest dark, we needed to heal, to regain power taken by the cursed blade. But we are stronger now.

“Us?” she asked, taking a breath and opening her eyes, which were still fearful.

You are Meira, the serpent hissed, And we are the Void, but us together are known as Valdis.

That couldn’t be right, yet people kept mentioning that name. She didn’t like it, didn’t trust this monster of darkness.

“No,” she said firmly, eyes narrowing.

Menacing laughter was its first reply, causing her to shiver.

Meira is weak, fearful and useless, Valdis is strong and proud. She is fierce in battle, feared by many and loved by few.

“I don’t want to be feared.” Her voice wavered, but she stood still, not that she had anywhere to go, “Leave me alone.”

We cannot. The creature replied, We will not.

The body of the monster moved again, the eyes whipping around as it tightened its coils around her, squeezing until it hurt to breathe. She didn’t even have a chance to fight back, the serpent was too fast, too strong. She was weak, was afraid, was useless. She didn’t even know how to defend herself anymore. Tears that she didn’t want began to leak from her emerald eyes.

Do not cry, Meira. the coils loosened slightly, We only want what is best for us all. We shall make it better, we promise.

A head darted forward, jaws open, only it wasn’t the head of a snake anymore, it was the head of a gigantic hound. The sharp teeth sliced through her shoulder, stopping short of crushing any bone, though she knew that those jaws were strong enough to do so. She opened her mouth to scream but no sound came out.

***********************

She woke in a cold sweat, her heart racing, the pain in her shoulder still sharp, her chest sore as she took a breath. She reached up to touch her shoulder, not believing that a nightmare could trick her mind into feeling pain. She froze as her fingers laid against something sticky. She took a deeper breath, ignoring the pain in her chest as the stench of blood hit her nostrils. She slowly pulled her hand away, looking down at the scarlet liquid that covered her fingers. She stared at it in disbelief, a shiver running down her spine. Then her gaze moved from her fingers to her shoulder to the blood that stained her shirt. She hissed as she pressed her fingers against the wound again, shocked when fresh blood began to seep from the deep punctures. She wasn’t dreaming, the wound was real. Tears dripped into the blood as Valdis reached for the small radio next to her bed with her clean hand and, quickly wiping the blood on her other hand off on her already ruined shirt, she started to dial Raine. Then she stopped, put the radio down and untangled herself from the covers before changing out of the bloody nightshirt and into street clothes.

After slipping out of the Hotel, Valdis made her way to where she knew Raine’s apartment was, more slowly than she might normally. Her chest hurt less, but her shoulder continued to bleed, she was lucky it was dark out or she might have had a problem getting there unseen. She knocked on Raine’s door, one hand pressed tightly to her bleeding shoulder, hoping that the Healer would answer and not the Necromancer.

[ruinsprofessor]

The healer was a lighter sleeper, as it transpired, and more than capable of waking her partner should there be an emergency that required both their attentions. The knock roused her first, and Raine hastily pulled her jacket on over her sleeping clothes before making it all the way out to the front door and pulling it open.

Her eyes widened when she took in the shape Valdis -- Meira -- was in, and she reached out to tug the woman inside before anything else could happen. "You're hurt," she said, and with her other hand fumbled for her staff, leaning in its habitual corner behind the door. Hurt, and she wasn't healing, hadn't healed despite the length of time it had taken her to get from wherever she'd been to the Earth sector. Something was wrong. More wrong than the loss of her memory, even. "What did this to you? Are you being followed?"

Despite the rapid questions, Raine was already beginning to cast, the white circle of the spell spinning into existence beneath her as soon as she had her staff in hand.

[redlightgreenlight]

Raine was worried, it was evident in her eyes the moment she opened the door, of course worry was the obvious reaction when someone showed up on your doorstep with an injury and to be honest, she herself was worried and still a bit dazed.

"I don't think..." she replied as the healer pulled her through the door, slightly thrown by the woman's increasing worry and wincing at the sudden movement. "No, no one is following me."

"You told me to tell you of any abnormalities," She pressed her hand harder against her shoulder, as if that would stop the pain and slowly spreading fear. "It called itself the Void, it..." This couldn't be happening, how could a dream do anything like this. "It was like a bad dream, except...dreams don't do this."

[ruinsprofessor]

It called itself the Void. Then this was still Meira, not Valdis, Raine could only assume, for the lack of familiarity with it. She focused on the arte first. "Heal," she said firmly, and light gathered around the wound under Meira's hand, urging the healing processes into greater, faster action. That should remove any serious danger, for now.

With the immediate problem theoretically on the mend, Raine looked Meira over again from head to toe, assessing. "It wasn't a dream," she said, quiet. Perhaps a bit regretful. "Or, I doubt that it was only a dream, at least. Tell me what happened, from the beginning. Everything you can recall."

But Meira seemed shocked and frightened. Not the best state for recounting something frightening. "...I can make tea, if you like," Raine added after only a brief pause, at somewhat of a loss for where to begin with offering comfort and therefore resorting to her most common fallback. "Something warm?" Perhaps blankets.

[peacefullywreathed]

The necromancer enjoyed his sleep and wasn't ashamed of it. Though he registered Raine's leaving, it was primarily in the loss of his heater and with a belligerent mumble as he turned into the spot where she'd been. That was what first roused him.

What roused him second was the restless slide of death and souls, and the ones that didn't belong to him; they were familiar but heightened more than they had been of late. Not fully in power, or he would have woken more quickly with the potential threat, but enough that it was impossible to get back to sleep, with that niggling sense of warning in the back of his mind.

With a groan Solomon found his way out of the bed and wrapped his dressing-gown around himself, seeing as he wasn't particularly dressed on this particular occasion. He shuffled yawning and without bothering to find the walls from the bedroom, his hair ruffled, and his mouth snapped shut almost audibly when he heard what they were saying.

The Void. Oh, bloody wonderful. So that was what he was sensing.

"Tea," said Solomon, still sleepily but more awake than he usually was within five minutes of being rudely woken. "I'll get it. You're needed ..." He waved vaguely in the direction of Meira's soul and the twist of the Void around her and went to the kitchen, stifling another yawn. It had been a late night.

[redlightgreenlight]

A sense of warmth moved over her shoulder and she felt the punctures close, leaving smooth skin behind. No, not smooth. She looked down, confused as she moved her hand away. The skin was ragged and scarred, the tissue tight and lighter than even her pale skin. It wasn't supposed to be like that.

She looked back up at Raine, then over at Solomon as he spoke, trying to coalesce her scatted thoughts into something complete. She knew it hadn't been only a dream, it had felt too real, been too familiar. She knew that monster, because it was her's.

"It was dark," she said quietly, "And there was a serpent. It had seven heads, but only one body." She stared at the blood still clinging to her hand, "It told me I was weak without my memories. Weak and worthless...I was frightened and I couldn't do anything. It told me not to cry, that it would help because of our deal," She could almost hear its voice again as it reassured her of its intention. "And then it bit me."

[ruinsprofessor]

She'd hoped not to have to wake Solomon, but there he was. Raine supposed it couldn't be helped if the Void was more active than it had been. She looked away from Meira only briefly, to glance back as Solomon made for the kitchen. "Thank you," she said, since it meant she didn't have to leave Meira to do it.

That was all; there were more pressing matters at hand. Raine reached to touch where the wound had been, frowning as touch confirmed what the initial sight had made her think. The wound had scarred. It shouldn't have. "It interfered with the healing process," she murmured, half to herself.

Raine took a deep breath then, calming herself since emotions running high wouldn't help. "Come sit down," she said, gesturing to the living-room and extending a hand to steady Meira if necessary. "It's all right." Meira still looked shaken. Raine didn't think it was outright shock, but she'd rather not risk Meira falling over, and a chair would be more comfortable.

"It was wrong, you know. You're different this way, of course, but neither weak, nor worthless. I suspect that it simply considers you useless for its purposes." A pause, and then, "Was that all it said?"

[redlightgreenlight]

She didn't look down at the scar when Raine reached out to touch it, but the woman's murmur bothered her. The Void had never interfered with healing before, why now? Meira, or was it Valdis, was confused as she moved to the living room. She couldn't tell Raine about the deal, even if she could remember what it was. Things she knew and didn't know at the same time.

She looked at the woman as she sank slowly into one of the chairs. "It said that it was unable to protect us because the 'cursed blade' stole it's power." She hesitated, "It also said that it only wanted what was best for us, it said that together, me and it, are known as Valdis."

It was true, she realized, this monster belonged to her. It wasn't so much a flood of memories as it was a steady trickle, just a bit at a time.