tushanshu_logs | A Revelation in the Light of Day (January Catch All)

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A Revelation in the Light of Day (January Catch All)

Characters: Valdis and Open
Date: January "2017"
Location: Throughout Keeliai
Situation: Various
Warnings/Rating: In Starters

Her memory loss in November hadn't left any visible scars, but its return had been less than pleasant. Thus, apart from spending time with the kedanese children, she had mostly kept to herself in December. Trying to sort out the conflicting memories that belonged to her and those that belonged to Meira. In the end, the memories had merged and she was able to recall in detail the events of November. Some of those she wished she didn't, but others might prove useful.

Now that she was back together, she could focus on what she really cared about, getting back to work at the Dojo and hunting down the cultists. The Cultists had been fairly silent throughout the Chihuelans visit and the Turtle Move, but she didn't suspect they would be for long. Then there was the matter of Yunxu's salt hoarding, Jintou's current state, her hunt for Celaunn and conflict with Zanru, not to mention those zombie kedan who had tried to take her soul gem and the visions from the turtle. She barely had time to think about anything else when her head was spinning with so many thoughts. There was so much to be done and she couldn't do it alone.

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That was another thing. Cain had managed to force them out? He couldn't imagine it had been all under his own power; something else might have been wrong, or maybe Valdis had been helping when she didn't realize. He was just too powerless for that in comparison to these magical giants all around him.

Seeing her continue to fall into the pain of the memories, Cain frowned. His hand held to Raine's more tightly, unsure of where she was going with this. The dogs, of course, were not something he wanted to think about. He'd had many pets and beasts of burden over the ages but canines had never been part of that; he still couldn't bear the idea. "It isn't your fault," he said. Maybe it needed to be said more clearly. "You didn't set those dogs loose on us."

It was no longer his memories that were painful, it was the one that he had found, that he had somehow wrenched from an unknown place. She lifted her free hand and touched her chest lightly, relieved to find that there was no pain. She didn't know how much he had seen of the memory, but she suspected he hadn't realized what that memory had meant.

"No," she replied, rising and pulling her hand out of Raine's before stepping back to give the man room and a clear path to the door. "What you saw, the memory that you somehow summoned, that's...I didn't even know I had that memory," She shook her head, "That's the day I lost my soul. The day I became a monster like those dogs."

It was true, everything Amos had told her had been true. She covered her face with her hands, half laughing, half crying, both relieved and terrified. She was certain that the wards were going crazy by now, good thing she had had the foresight to tell Anton.

Raine watched the back-and-forth for a while, judging that Cain and Valdis were best served discussing it that way -- she had not shared the experience, after all -- but at this point she deemed it better to step in, rather than remaining simply a balancing influence.

Now she glanced between them, and realized that though she did not know all the details that Cain had missed something important about Valdis. "Cain," she said, quiet, insistent, and waited until he looked at her. "Valdis isn't human. The other form she commonly inhabits is canine. That's why she now assumes you must hate her."

She gave it a beat, and then added, more authoritatively, "And that's enough from both of you about monsters and fault. An experiment went wrong, and while I hope you've both learned something from the experience, arguing about who's to blame does nothing helpful. The only use is in discovering where those powers went astray."

Edited (thought clarification) 2016-01-24 05:07 (UTC)

Everything was rather off-kilter all of a sudden. Valdis wasn't making sense until Raine stepped in, measured and understanding, knowing more about the situation than he had. His heart felt like it had stopped, only not really because he knew how that felt, before it picked up the pace and a tremble came unbidden to his frame. Logic knew so much better, that someone with the body of a canine (even then only sometimes) was not the same thing. It wasn't, but his blood felt like ice.

This wasn't going to help. With the memory of Remus' death so fresh in his mind, emotions swirling like a storm with no port to find, he couldn't contain the movement he made. Halfway to sitting up, getting away, trying to separate himself from the thing that would haunt his dreams. His breath came out choked and he forced the next one out strained, even.

"No," he said. It wasn't directed at anyone. He just needed the denial, the force, the power of it. He said it again, another language, and another. Any one where he could say the same thing in a different way, letting it build up like a wall against the battering ram. He needed a moment before he could do anything else.

Rather than feel relief at Raine's words, Valdis shuddered. Jacob's reaction wasn't unexpected, but she was unprepared for the storm of emotions that followed Raine's words. The terror and anger slammed against the guilt and pain, causing a whirlwind that was becoming hard to handle. She couldn't shut the emotions off, her empathy causing her to feel Jacob's emotions just as deeply as her own. She was having a hard time breathing.

"Jacob," she whispered, shaking her head "You need to stop."

She could hear the many languages that came from the man as he repeated the word over and over. There was far too much feeling in each iteration, emotions that were too powerful to push aside. Her hands dropped to her sides as her vision blurred, her pulse pounding in her head. Her body suddenly failed her and she dropped to the floor, her vision darkening as she fought to separate the emotions out. She was tired, too tired, walking in Jacob's soul and the resulting emotional trauma was becoming too much. It would be easier to just let go, so she did, hopefully, if she dreamed, her sleep wouldn't be filled with pain and suffering.

And things were officially out of the range of what Raine could manage by herself, with both Cain and Valdis unresponsive in one way or another. She was too slow to do anything but watch Valdis collapse.

Emotional overload in both cases, manifested in different ways. Raine needed to separate them to prevent a feedback loop, but she was loath to leave Valdis unconscious by herself. She needed Anton.

At least he had been forewarned that something might happen, and was likely nearby. "I'll be right back," Raine said to Cain, and let go of him, striding quickly to the door and sticking her head out. She took a deep breath and yelled down the hall. "Anton!"

She would explain when he got there; there was little point in yelling an entire explanation down the hall. In the mean time she went back to the two of them, crouched to check Valdis' vital signs. She could move Valdis, but likely she wouldn't improve until Cain and his emotions were out of range.

Although Anton was admittedly concerned about this venture, he also fully agreed with the prospect of Valdis learning more control. Thrice he'd seen what happened when she didn't have it; he'd been her combatant the first, the one who talked her down the second, and someone to help with the aftermath the third.

But he was forewarned, so when the wards went off the first time, he made sure it was as a result of this experiment and not elsewhere. Then he went on with his tasks, keeping an eye on Valdis's room.

By the time Raine's strident call came down the stairs, Anton's keys were nearly burning and he was on his way up to check on them.

Anton quickened his pace and was at the door in seconds, entering without waiting for direction. He cast a quick eye across the situation. (His gist churned in his chest, at the sight of Valdis unconscious on the floor.) "What do you need?"

"I need to separate them." Satisfied for now with Valdis' physical signs, Raine beckoned Anton over. "They're fine physically, but learned rather more than they bargained for about each other from this experiment." A brief hesitation to debate the wisdom of making Cain's weakness known, but no: Raine trusted Anton. He would do nothing untoward with it, and in fact might need to know for Hotel management, if both were to retain occupancy here. "Cain has what appears to be a strong phobia of canines, and Valdis' other form was previously unknown. I believe it's causing a feedback loop with her empathy. I'll fill you in with more detail later, if Valdis doesn't, but for now physical separation is most pressing."

She was moving as she explained all this, though she waited until Anton had some hold of Valdis to do so, and Raine took up her staff in one hand and Cain's hand in the other, tugging at him till he responded, urging him up and toward the door. "I don't think she should be alone," Raine added, "but I believe you will be better for her than I."

Damn. Anton had wondered if this might have something to do with that, but he hadn't asked, because it hadn't been his business. Now it was, but now he knew. Raine had done the right thing. "I already know," Anton said quietly as he kneeled beside Valdis to cradle her to his chest. "He had an averse reaction to Yuri's canine companion. I asked Valdis to avoid her hound form in the Hotel after that, but I didn't tell her who would take issue."

He wasn't surprised she might have figured it out, though.

It would have been easier for Anton to carry Valdis downstairs, Anton thought, but when he followed Raine's movement he saw Cain obey the urging toward the door.

"I'll stay at least until you come back to exam her," he said, lifting Valdis to take her to the bed, and settle her comfortably against the pillow.

"I didn't," Raine said, brisk, "or I would have been more forceful about my concerns." But that was neither here nor there. Deal with the problem at hand. She shook her head, and nudged Cain out into the hall. "I'm going to take him downstairs to his room. With Valdis unconscious, hopefully that will be far enough."

Ideally she'd like Cain out of the Hotel entirely for now, perhaps at the Guild, but she would be remiss in not ensuring Valdis was well before leaving the building entirely.

"I'll be back to take a look at her as soon as I can," Raine said with a nod. "She seems to be fine, but her regeneration has done atypical things in the past. For now, though, I do believe your presence will be the most helpful." Valdis knew and loved Anton, and his calm could only do her well. A pause, at the door. "Thank you, Anton," Raine added, and was gone with Cain.

It wasn't as if Cain hadn't been listening to the whole thing. Somewhere in the back of his brain, he took it all in and processed it to try and decipher later; he just wasn't paying attention when his emotions had taken the wheel. That didn't happen so often anymore, and yet he was practically paralyzed with the idea of... of what? A dog with a person's intellect? It was so stupid when thought of like that, but it was true. Canines with cunning and tactical ability was a terrifying thought when just a regular dog baring its teeth had him backpedaling without any kind of supernatural foul play involved.

His thoughts were out of order. They had pulled things out of their boxes and left a mess, and he had to try to enforce some sort of containment before he could really stop and think. When Raine started pulling him out of the room, leading him to somewhere less cloying and charged, he squeezed her hand tighter without pausing in his numerous denials. It was helping, no matter how childish it probably was. He kept his head bowed until they got to his room, then pulled out his key with one last, soft utterance.

At least Cain followed her; it was simply that he wasn't entirely mentally present. Raine recognized some part of the reflex, the distancing as part of the fear response, but she couldn't begin to guess where Cain had gone, so to speak.

She took the key from him, unlocked the door and got them both inside before turning to face him. "Cain," she said, and dropped her staff to take his other hand, in hopes of providing some form of reassurance. "Cain, do you remember where you are?" It was said more than a little to see if he could respond, though certainly the question's topic was a genuine concern as well.

He breathed softly, then let out a slight laugh for the attention Raine was placing on him. Not because she was acting improperly, because Cain actually needed it right now. There was far too much going on around his head to think with the right mentality, to afford himself the distance t o get away and view it more objectively, and that was a pain. Raine's help was more welcome than she might have even realized.

"Hotel," he said, eyes closing briefly. His hands weren't shaking. He wasn't anywhere he didn't want to be, not really, but he was still shaken up. "We're at the Hotel. Back in my room."

"Good," Raine said, encouraging, studying his face. He was steadier; that was a start. If he recognized where and when he was, he couldn't be too far lost in fear. "Here-- you should sit down. Are you all right?"

As she spoke she was nudging him toward a chair. He was, fairly obviously, not all right, but hopefully the question would either get him talking or focus him more on her, and either or both would be useful.

It was a mixture of things. Not quite just fear, but thoughts and memories and confusion all wrapping up his head and making it hard to focus. He looked over when he realized she was trying to get him somewhere, then thankfully collapsed in the chair and slouched. As much as he tended to go for the college-aged everyman in his usual posture, this was a bit more than that.

"That's a relative question," he said, and it might have been impressive if it weren't also fairly automatic. "Physically. I don't... know what's going on in my head right now. There's—there's a dog upstairs and I know, I know, but my body is shaking thinking about it, about her, and I can't make it stop."

Raine kept hold of his hands, settled on the ground in front of the chair, leaning against his knees. It was ungraceful and awkward, to say the least, but it meant that even slouching his gaze would fall on her, and it gave him a physical grounding that was unrelated to dogs. That would serve, for now. "You're safe here," she said, quiet but certain. As though she would brook no alternative.

"Hm. Didn't I promise I'd tell you more about my world?" It was something of a non sequitur, but also the offer of distraction, of something to focus on that wasn't Valdis.

Cain appreciated it. Really, he did, but with everything going on, he couldn't quite process that he should probably thank Raine, reaffirm that she was definitely family even if not blood, do something to make it known how grateful he was. All he could do was hold her hands just the smallest bit tighter. Her getting closer was good, yet stifling at the same time. He could tell he was breathing heavier, not more panicked but like the air was thicker. Warmer.

"Yeah," Cain agreed. He could remember that. Things nearer to him than home and his life and Romulus and Remus, their ill-thought scheme that ended everything. That was easy. "You did. Following up on that now?"

"I don't see why not," Raine said, as calmly as though it was just another day. But she squeezed his hands briefly in return, and stayed right where she was, watching him sharply for some sign that she should change tacks or offer something else. "Let me tell you about Asgard, then. The city is built into the side of a cliff, and it overlooks a great chasm, and there is always wind blowing through. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the summon spirit of wind makes her home nearby." A pause, brief, for thought, before she amended, "Perhaps their home would be more accurate. Sylph appears to be a gestalt entity, composed of three smaller beings, and they have appeared in one body or in three before. I'm uncertain about their nature."

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At least Valdis was fine on a physical level. That meant the problem was purely mental; and as much as Anton had been trying to play mind-doctor for Erskine, he was no Hopeless. Valdis was all strength in body, child in emotion.

So Anton merely nodded back to Raine as she disappeared with Cain in tow, and instead fussed about the bed to make Valdis comfortable, intending for the comfort and his presence to loosen the grip panic had on her.

The overwhelming emotional state that radiated from Cain began to fade until it vanished entirely, leaving only exhaustion. The traumatic visions didn't shift over into terrible dreams, leaving her to rest fairly comfortably until she had recovered enough to recognize Anton's presence.

"Fadir?"

"I am here," said Anton, and he sat on the side of the bed, and said dryly, "The attempt did not go well, I take it?"

It was a gentle prompt for a little more information than he'd been given before, if Valdis was willing to give it, as much as an attempt at levity.

"The attempt went fine," she almost growled, irritated with herself for blacking out again. It was times like this that she really hated the empathic abilities having a soul gave her. "It was the content that was the problem."

"And this is surprising to you?" Anton asked gently. "You knew he would be afraid of you, if he knew your other shape, and he has lived at least as long as you, with all his emotions as his disposal in that time."

It wasn't a censure. Just a nudge that, yes, Valdis did have a habit of leaping before thinking, before considering, and that it frequently turned out badly, whether large or small scaled.

"It wasn't that," she argued, "I should have known better than to dive into the soul of another Immortal, but he could have warned me about the torture and deaths, I wasn't prepared for that...much less his intrusion into my soul and my memories."

Her anger had no direction, she couldn't blame herself, couldn't blame Cain, or Raine or Anton or even the Void for this. It had just happened. Who would have thought that Bakura's advice, given so long ago, would come back to her now.

Anton sighed a bit, mostly in resignation, but also with a bit of exasperation. He did reach out to brush her hair off her face, and left his hand on her head afterward.

"I doubt he knew he could do that either," he said. "But a person's mind will do a lot to protect themselves, whether they mean it or not. It's no one's fault, a leabh--but it was, perhaps, foolish to attempt it without trying harder to ascertain the possible consequences."

Something Valdis had a habit of doing. At least Raine had been involved.