Our power is made perfect in weakness (closed to Flamebird)

[Flamebird]

The inn was rather homey. The wooden walls were engraved with extravagant swirls and designs. The walls were dressed in elegant tapestries depicting the history of the elf lands. The breaking of the two groups which would eventually become the two nations of Raiaera and Alerar; the great cities; the Corpse Wars... Yet, in the ashes of the terror of the undead, hope remained. This town was filled with a dignity that sharply contrasted the slums of depression Felicity saw elsewhere in this land. The tapestries themselves, the walls and curved furniture, everything was a testimony to culture and pride. The elves here actually kept their heads raised as they ate and drank in the corners of the tavern. True to the supernatural culture of the elves, Felicity's magic senses were prickling constantly as a mage or two passed by. The building itself even seemed intertwined in magical energy. Near one of the roaring fires of the spacious dining quarters, a minstrel played a lavish melody on a lute. Raiaera, after so long, was rising from the dead. Raiaera was discovering new life. Raiaera was recovering.

If Raiaera could recover from its demons, why couldn't anybody else?

As Felicity followed Shinsou through the cozy yet brilliant tavern, Felicity was alarmed by a familiar yet glorious prospect. Food. Food! The delicious scents of roasts, fresh baked breads, berry pies, and rare ales all wrapped themselves in a package that made the girl's stomach scream in a lust for substance. Felicity had a much larger appetite than the average person due to her biology, yet Corone's disastrous climate prevented that many crops from growing. Remaining rations were small, meaning many went hungry. Felicity herself had needed to resort to taking gross salves and bizarre potions to sustain her high maintenance body. She barely had enough, and she often went with a growling stomach despite getting enough energy to operate. Hunger was such a common feeling since she joined the Brotherhood, but now... She was free. The freedom of being in a new land that was scarcely affected by the ash clouds came over her for the first time. She was unaware of the drool seething from her lips and dripping off her chin as Shinsou bought two rooms. Still, the moment Shinsou stepped back and tried showing her the key to her room, Felicity had darted to the counter. Shaking, her hands slammed the wooden structure as her body vibrated in glorious anticipation.

"A full turkey! The whole thing! And a strawberry pie! And a salad with those little orange sweet berries! And a whole wheat bread! And cheese! And-"

She rambled the large order to the rather confused and even scared elf behind the counter. It was another waiter behind him who wrote down the order.

"We've had cases of refugees from Corone ordering too much to stomach," That waiter mumbled as he jotted the long list of comfort foods down, "But this..."

Soon enough, as Shinsou was getting the luggage in their rooms, everyone in the tavern was watching a spectacular show. The buff yet short redhead teen was shoveling food into her mouth in ravenous, half starved mouth fulls. Some were taking bets as to how long it would take for to finish it all. Others appeared rather disturbed as they were unaware of the situation in Corone, as well as Felicity's unique bodily needs. The entire tavern watched as this near-human shoved an entire loaf of bread into her mouth in eight seconds. Felicity herself was too obsorbed into the bliss of this feast to notice any of this, or Shinsou joining the edge of the crowd in disturbed awe.

Needless to say, she spent most of the afternoon in one of the bath houses outside.

~~~

Once Felicity's stomach finally settled, she was inside her room the key had been lazily tossed onto the counter, and her possessions were tossed onto the unused second bed. Wearing much more loose, sloppy clothes than she usually did, she sat on her bed with her back against the wall. It was dark out, the wooden beams of the window closed to keep cold air out.

Felicity's awe of Raiaera was starting to die down.

Her magical affinity was now used to the passive glow of magic in the air. Her stomach was full and happy. Her bowels were no longer screaming, and for the first time in a while her body was completely content, comfortable. The warm, straw bed asked the sleepy girl to crawl under the sheets, but she remained icely still. Her thoughts were growing disturbed as the joy of this trip drifted further back in time. She remembered why she was here, or so she thought. To train. Shinsou brought her here to train. Without even knowing why, Felicity wanted to start immediately despite the night. She got up from the bed, pulled the key from her desk, and stumbled towards the door.

The hallway was on a balcony overlooking the main floor. The curbed, elegant rails rolled along the edges as Felicity walked next door and pounded the door.

A groggy voice sounded from inside. "Yeah?"

"Ready?" Felicity called, "To train?"

A moment of silence. Then.

"It's night time. I'm tired and so are you. Go to sleep."

Disappointment dimly glowed in Felicity's heart, then was replaced with the much stronger waves of discomfort and fear. Her hand twitched on its own as Felicity took a step back from the door. Looking over the balcony, she saw that a seldom few people were still awake, let alone down there. One or two people drinking the night away in the corners, or passed out from drinking, were all that remained. Reluctantly, Felicity trudged back to her own room.

She found herself, once again, sitting on the bed bed with her back against the cool wall. Once again, discomfort cried for some sort of action. Anxiety caused her chest to throb in dull pain as exhaustion from seldom resting overtook her. She was soon asleep where she sat.

~~~

Was she under water?

She felt thick liquid swirling around her. Her vision was murky at best, unable to tell how deep or shallow the hot liquid was. Confusion. How did she get here? What was this place. She pulled herself up, not knowing how, and found herself gasping for air in a hot, sticky world of dim red.

The liquid dripped from the top of her body into the large pool she sat waist high in. As the sound of dripping echoed in this strange place, Felicity's senses started to come to.

She heard sizzling. Sizzling like remains of a burnt out fireplace or meat hissing from high temperatures. The air was filled with wisps of steam as Felicity took in the most revolting smells possible. Flesh, rotting and burning and cut. Her throat throbbed as the gag reflex overtook her for several moments. As she bent over, trying not to vomit, she saw a familiar shape in front of her.

A decapitated human arm, the hand cut up and limp.

Felicity immediately bolted from her place in the pool. She fell back down, on her knees, as her heart pounded with such intensity. There were more. The more she looked around, she saw more. Corpses, so many corpses. All faces frozen in the eternal shock of their moments of death. These faces were all familiar, she recalled them being victims of... something... Something familiar. Something cold. Something that brought images of frost to the brain.

Yet, Felicity stood up. Panic raced as she bolted through the shallow, red pool. She realized this was blood. As she ran past more bodies, the pool grew deeper. She went from the pool being ankle length to at her waist line as she skidded to a halt. One body stood out amongst the rest.


His elderly body had wrinkled skin and black hair just starting to turn grey. He was still too young to die. His hands were over his chest, as if his last agonizing moments were spent grasping his malfunctioning heart.

Her lips parted. Uncle...

She finally emptied her stomach’s contents.

Vision growing hazy, she darted in a random direction. Her heart pounded in the quiet as she tried desperately to get away. Instead of pulling herself out, she found herself suddenly drowning in the pool. Her arms and legs flailed as her eyes darted to find escape.

Then, she heard a noise. Metal? The current of the pool was like a river. She found herself drawing closer. Up ahead, she saw a horrifying sight. Atop a pile of strange ice, a cloaked figure held a longsword as she towered above another figure. His hands were tied, he was blind folded. Yet, even as he was on his knees, she recognized him.

"Jonathan!"

The hooded figure looked up. So familiar. Her blue eyes, black hair, and pale skin were the most bitter of features to a woman made of ice. She raised her sword.

"No-" Blood flooded Felicity's her mouth as paralysis overtook her. She was unable to even cry as the sword cleanly sliced off his head. The figure, once again draped in shadow, kicked the body into the sea of corpses. Then, the figure looked up again.

Now, Felicity stared into the eyes of her own self.

Panic caused her to immediately sink into the waves again. Then-

She awoke.