Crystalline Undeath [Closed to Rehtul and Crystal]

[Flamebird]

The ice chains going away was such a massive relief. Felicity already felt a little warmer, a little less imprisoned. When Rehtul shook his finger at her and told her to take a break, she swallowed repeatedly to get over the tightness in her throat.

As Rehtul left and jabbed at her anger, Felicity rolled her eyes fondly. "Who, me get angry? Never!"

She chuckled as Rehtul ducked into the library. The night had fallen, and she was sure her orange hair stood out against the shadows. She turned to Celandine and smiled sadly. Rehtul had once also told Felicity about her kind heart and how the world could stomp it out as well. Felicity had faced it and indeed, her heart had gone cold on many occasions in attempts at self preservation.

Something inside of her stirred over this girl. She wanted to protect her, she wanted to make sure she never felt the agony she had.

Felicity sighed wordlessly and approached the little fae, "Do you need me to carry you? If it hurts too much to walk?" She had to bite back the snarky feeling of not being the shortest person for once. She had to admit, the ice magic simply fading away made her feel so much better. It discouraged her, the fact that she had a long way to go. She had hoped these lessons would be quick, then she could return home in the blink of an eye. Sadly, today had smacked her in the face with the cold truth. Her post traumatic stress disorder would stand in the way. Then again, her PTSD was why she was learning ice magic in the first place. It was her desire to overcome it that drove her her.

Her hands still shook. Could she even carry the fae in this state? She felt weaker in these moments, always. She tried her best to breathe steadily. At least she was talking normally now, and at least the feeling of being weighed down by non-existent ice was gone. She looked down to her fingers, which numbly were half recoiled half loosely hanging. She clenched her fists, the feeling finally returning to her limbs. She just had to keep trying.

She just had to keep trying.

She was strong.

Felicity sighed shakily, shifting between one leg and the other as she finally was feeling again. She spoke, "Please, for everyone's safety, avoid making me bleed. Foul magic activates whenever my skin breaks." Felicity motioned to her heavy clothes, neck to toes, with a small smile, "Incidents don't happen that often though. I make sure of it. Which way did Rehtul motion to again? I wasn't paying attention."

[Sugarp1e1]

Crystal had to bite her tongue at the faun's mention of "unnecessary violence". She wasn't attacking; she was defending.

"I'm fine." Crystal answered. "And…" she sighed before continuing. "Tea sounds nice."

As she finished answering "Celandine", Rehtul snapped his fingers again. With that, the chains binding Crystal's body crumbled away.

"…That's it? He's just letting us go?"

This new unity would last only a split second.

"This is a trick."
"I don't believe that."
"We're still alive."
"Yeah, but our wings broke."
"That's what a healer is for."

Crystal was still on her knees. The blood on her face and wings had already formed scabs against her icy skin.

Her wings fluttered back into place, repositioning themselves after their binding. Absentmindedly, Crystal attempted to lift herself up and stand again, but her wings didn’t even so much as budge her tiny frame.

"Do you need me to carry you?" the red-hair asked. "If it hurts too much to walk?"

"Our wings were hurt, not our legs."
"She really needn't trouble herself."
"I don’t like walking long distances."
"You don’t like doing anything!"
"I wouldn’t mind a piggyback ride."

A part of Crystal agreed with Luna that…"Felicity" she thinks, really didn’t need to carry her. They both could see just how much she was trembling.

At the same time, she was about as willing as Geo was to actually put in the literal legwork needed to travel. And something told her she wasn’t going to stay away from these two even if she could fly.

Felicity spoke again.

"Please, for everyone's safety, avoid making me bleed. Foul magic activates whenever my skin breaks. Incidents don't happen that often though. I make sure of it."

"So that's what I sensed before." Crystal mused. "That contamination."

"Which way did Rehtul motion to again?" Felicity continued. "I wasn't paying attention."

"Of course you weren’t."
"Solga."
"What? She can't hear us."
"Still kinda mean."
"Can we please focus?"

Crystal shook her head, clawed herself up using Felicity's clothes and stood on her two feet. She dusted herself off and restored her Glamour, her white hair, two purple eyes, pale skin, and single pair of arms retuning as she answered the question.

"He said the next town over, so to the East, maybe. I don't need to be carried. Maybe later."

Crystal attempted to fold her wings, but could feel the scabs breaking and her flesh tearing. With a wince and a yelp, she quickly unfurled her wings again, now bleeding once more, though the Glamour made it appear as though they were cleanly torn like paper.

Is this another debt she has to pay? One for attacking people who apparently never meant her any harm? And what will she gain in exchange for this humiliation and suffering? Crystal was eager to find out.