Dreaming for an answer...

[Star Lin]

John Waterstrike reach up and press his fingers to the Linkpearl. “Titor, I wish to talk to the woman that had been the Siren, if possible?”

 

Titor’s voice came over the line. “You may,” he said, “be sure to keep the guards with you.”

 

“I will, Sir,” he said, teleporting to the mansion. A pair of guards meet me, taking him to the room that she was being held in.

 

Khuj’a voice came over the line. “Has she been sent for trail yet, or is she still recovering in the medbay?”

 

Titor answer, “She is being held in one of our cells. She is still recovering but not in the medbay.”

 

John stood outside the room for a moment, Khuj’a asking, “I see…would it be possible for me to be alerted when the trail takes place?”

 

“Yes, it may take a while for her to recover and us to discern her intent,” Titor said. John remove his fingers from the linkpearl, cutting the connection. He nods to the guards as one of them opens the door.

 

Rhiawen Auryon glances to the door, huddling a little farther into her chosen corner.

 

John looks to the guards at the door. “I’ll be alright for right now.”

 

Rhiawen hugs her knees to her chest and remains silent, listless gaze trailing from the carbuncle, to the boy, and back again.

 

John turns his attention to Rhiawen giving a gentle smile to her. “It’s ok, I’m not going to harm you.” He slowly starts toward her, leaving his hands in plain sight so that she could see that he wasn’t arm.

 

Rhiawen carefully presses a little farther back into her corner away from him. “What do you want?”

 

John sits, still making slow movements, and Kit came up to stand infront of Rhiawen. “I only wish to speak with you. Something is happening with the others since their encounter with ‘you’. I only wish to try and find a way to help them recover.”

 

Rhiawen flinches briefly, glancing off to the side as her ears lower guiltily. “I… don’t know…” Teeth sink into her lower lip a moment before she shakes her head. “I don’t know if I can help.”

 

John inhales slowly, calming his nerves and his worry. “There… there might be a way that you can help.” He’s trying not to look at his hands. “I need your permission from you…”

 

Rhiawen looks at John warily. “My permission for what?” After that, that Au Ra had done earlier, she wasn’t exactly keen on letting anyone too near her.

 

John breathing was slow. “I have an ability… to feel aether with my fingers in a vibration form.” He holds up his glove hands. “I’m able to ‘see’ those vibration… and other things with my hands.” He lowers his hands, looking down at them. “I promise that it won’t hurt you.”

 

Rhiawen regards John quietly, glancing to his hands and back again. “And you think… that will help you find something that will help them?” John nods to her.

 

Rhiawen draws in a deep breath, holding it for a count of ten before letting it out slowly. “…if you think it will help.”

 

John nods. “If it doesn’t, it might give me another angle to look into.” He stands up. “If you would give me a moment to speak with the guards.” He watch her nod at him.

 

John moves over to the guards, speaking to the female Au Ra. “This needs to be private…I’ll call when we are finish.” She looks up at him, uncertain. “I will be fine. I’ll call you when I’m ready to leave.” She whisper something about informing Titor, and the two guards step outside the door. He turns back to Rhiawen, making his way back to her.

 

Rhiawen watches John with a small frown, obviously uneasy.

 

John drops down beside her and removes his glove from his left hand. He thought for a moment, planning to use the same thing that they had use when trying to find Raimy. “I swear, I won’t hurt you.” He steady himself, “I just need you to hold out your hand, ok?”

 

Rhiawen hesitates, her ears low, before carefully extending her right hand toward John.

 

John sighs, readying himself for what’s about to happen. “I need you to try and remember the day that you receive the shell necklace. Hold on to that memory in your mind, alright?”

 

Rhiawen frowns before nodding once. Closing her eyes, she thought back. Just outside the Tempest Gates in La Noscea, she had taken Nerva with her to see the fireworks. They had argued about him wanting to kill a hyur, who had bump into them, before he had given her the necklace. Her ears laid back as she recalled the feeling of vertigo and nausea that had assailed her almost immediately after putting it on.

 

John is still taking slow deep breath…steadying himself. “I need to warn you that what happen at this point isn’t your fault,” he says. “Please don’t panic and don’t let go of my hand until I tell you too, or Kit tries to pull my hand away.” With that, he place his uncover hand on her own, and fell into the memory. His body slumps against her’s, eye open but glaze over, and his hand in shimmering in aether.

 

Rhiawen lets out a soft grasp as he slumps against her, clinging to his hand tightly and supporting him with her other arm. The memory around the necklace seemed to grow fuzzy. After putting it on, she had teleported back home to her cabin. Her brother had put her to bed and force her to drink an antidote, afraid that she had been poisoned. Then the nightmares had started. Screams, overlaid with the scent of saltwater and blood, with someone singing in the background.

 

John stumbles forward a little as the falling feeling stops. Several ‘people’ walk through him as he takes in the memory. “I can see you with someone,” he says to himself and to Rhiawen in the waking world. “You just put the necklace on…” he pauses as he feels the vertigo and nausea wash through him. It caught him offer guard, letting the hold on ‘himself’ slip, the first bit of confusion entering the ‘Dreaming’. “The world is spinning and I… no, you felt sick from it.” He felt himself fall again and now he’s at a cabin. “There’s a cabin and my… no your brother gave you something… an antidote.”

 

John shutters against her. “There so many nightmares… gods, blood and screams…” he says. The first beads of sweat appears on his forehead. “I can smell saltwater… and I hear someone singing.” He swallows, “I…I’ve heard this song before…” he whispers.

 

Rhiawen frowns, doing her best to support John. “That’s right…” Her ears wilted slightly as she looked down. The next morning, things had felt… surreal. Like she wasn’t in control of herself anymore. And she could only watch from inside her own head as she order Nerva to kill someone to please her.

 

John moves toward ‘memory Rhiawen’, only to have her brother pass through him, and his awareness of ‘self’ slip even more. The next moment, he had ‘fallen’ a short bit, and he/she was speaking to another person, the name Nerva on her lips and an order. “You meet with Nerva… but it wasn’t you either and ‘you’ order him to kill.” He felt like he was going to be sick. “I…did, no…no…you didn’t do it…but what has taken control of me….you…us…” Kit was starting to pace in front of the pair.

 

Rhiawen ducks her head slightly, beginning to shiver. The screams rang in her ears, a soft voice laughing over them. The same voice that ordered Nerva to be still so that she could lick the blood from him after he had finish killing the man they had captured together. Eyes that glinted crimson as blood, dark scales reflecting the light dully.

 

John’s breath is coming shorter, his hair is becoming damp with sweat. “The screams… make it stop… I don’t want to kill but I couldn’t stop her and she laughs and laughs.” He/She can taste the blood, feeling ‘her’ thrill. He/She feels the change in his/her body as he/she supper from their pet’s kill. Crimson as staring up at him/her… dark scales appearing on his/her body. Kit moves closer to them but doesn’t yet grab for John’s sleeve. She is afraid he’s losing himself in the memory.

 

Rhiawen hunches her shoulders as the laugh rings louder in her ears, the taste of blood on her tongue nearly choking her. Voice choked, she forces out a name, “Salacia, the temptess…”

 

Kit’s ears perks forward. A name… they had a name for the siren. ‘Enough, John, we have what we need.’ John/Rhiawen doesn’t seem to hear her calling for him/her. He/She too lost in the memory. He/She choking on the blood that ‘She’ is licking off of Nerva and ‘She’ wants more. “No… please no, I don’t want this. Why are you making me do this?”

 

Rhiawen whimpers softly in distress, the taste of copper thick on her tongue. Why wouldn’t he stop her? Didn’t Nerva realize it wasn’t her doing these things? Why wouldn’t he help her stop? Tears ran down her cheeks as she tremble violently, ears pressing back to try and block that chilling laughter.

 

John shaking now, yukata damp with sweat. “Please, Nerva… stop me from doing this… no, please, no, don’t look at me like that. ‘She’s’ making you do this.” He/She can’t escape the laughter and Nerva was looking at him/her with such love, as if he/she was the only one in the world. “You don’t love me,” he/she hissed. “You just want ‘her’… you don’t see me.”

 

Rhiawen shakes violently, a sob leaving her as she clings a little tighter to John, as if that would make it stop. Nerva loved it, the carnage and the blood, thinking that it was her wanting these things. Thrilled that she was reveling in the same things that he enjoyed. “…I don’t want this…Please… Please, someone, help me…”

 

John is shaking as well, tears running down from glaze eyes. “Please… make it stop… make it a nightmare that I can wake from.” Yet, it didn’t stop for him/her, more deaths on himself/herself, drowning in blood, choking on blood… and ‘She’ telling Nerva to bring ‘her’ more. Nerva looking at him/her with such love… even as his/her lips are color with blood. “Please… no more… stop, Nerva… or are you just Pet now…” he whisper faintly.

 

Rhiawen sucks in a ragged breath before shaking her head, trying to clear it. “Stop… Please enough! Stop!”

 

Kit leap forward, even as Rhiawen was calling for John to stop, her teeth grabing hold of the sleeve of his yukata, and trying to pull the two lock hands apart. There is a grasp from John as Kit finally pulls the two hands apart. He completely passes out, breathing ragged, and sweat soaking his clothes and hair. Kit whimpers in fear for him, ‘John’ she says, but there is no movement from him.

 

Rhiawen grasps for air, looking down at John with wide eyes. Swallowing hard, she rubs her eyes on her sleeve before placing a hand on his shoulder gentle. “H-Hello? Are you… alright?”

 

John doesn’t move yet he/she can hear someone calling his/her name. ‘John… it’s not John, it is…’ he/she thinks but a frown appears on John’s face. ‘No, it is John but I was also Rhia…’ “…wen,” he whimpers. He is shaking hard. “I’m sorry… so sorry…” he whimpers again. “Lost myself… should have stop… soon.”

 

Rhiawen reaches down to smooth John’s hair back gently. “Shh… Everything will be alright.” The instinct to help was impossible to ignore. Forcing a weak smile, she shakes her head. “Just… focus on getting better.”

 

John force his eyes open as a hand smooth his hair back. The glaze look that had been in his eyes was gone but was replace with exhaustion. “It… will take… a while… to pro…cess what I… no, you went through.” He force himself up a little before pulling Rhiawen against him. “I experience everything you did… so if you need to cry…” he whisper. “If you don’t… mind crying into… a sweat damp… yukata.”

 

Rhiawen closes her eyes tightly, biting at her lower lip. There were so many emotion still tangled up inside of her that she could barely even begin to sort them out. Bring a hand up, she settles it on John’s arm before lifting her head with a sad smile. “I’ll be alright. My tears won’t change what’s already happened. And the men that died deserve better than my tears.” John shakes his head at her. “I’ll manage… You don’t have to worry about me.”

 

John shakes his head again. “I would disagree… not for them but for yourself.” He brush her hair back. “You beat her by not curling up and wanting to die.” He press his forehead against her’s. “You facing your life… facing what she did while controlling you. You accept that there was nothing you could do then but that you can do something now.” He pulls back from her. “You gave me an idea on how the shell affect us and I thank you for that.” He taps her nose. “You won’t manage this alone.” John gave a tired smile. “I’m a healer so I will be using what I gain from your memories to help you cope as well.”

 

Rhiawen frown briefly, looking away. “That… Au Ra man said the same thing when Titor left him here with me. I… still don’t entirely agree. I can’t fix things if I’m dead either. So…”

 

“But if you saw something what would help your friends… then I’m glad.”

 

Kit came over, cooning up at them both but looking pointedly at John. “Yes, Mom, I will be going straight to bed once I leave here.” She smacks her tail against his knees before cooning something up at Rhiawen. “She said to get some rest well and that she is sorry for not stepping in sooner as well.” He gave a sad smile. “Shin is a wise man. I will speak with Titor first thing in the morning about what I found out.”

 

Rhiawen frown, opting not to elaborate on her feelings regarding Shin. It was hard to feel kindly to someone who stripped you and threw you in a tub of water, after all. “The pair of you should rest.” He lips quirk into a humorless smile. “It’s not like I can do anything else in here.”

 

John slowly stands up, holding onto the wall before bowing to her. “Please, Lady Rhiawen, don’t give up hope yet,” he said. “Rest well.”

 

Rhiawen smiles wearily at John, sinking back into her corner.

 

John slowly and exhaustedly made his way back to the door. “You can come back in now,” he whisper, stepping through. The guards look at each other and at John, taking in the sick look appearing on his face. “Please make sure she is comfortable. She may have nightmares so please wake her if they start.” He way them off. “I… just need so air.” He didn’t wait for them to protest, quickly making his way out and behind the mansion. He empty the contents of his stomach, shaking as his mind was overwhelm by her and ‘her’ memories. “I… don’t think… I’m going to sleep… any tonight, Lady Rhiawen.”