taxonomites | [01 | Sanctuary{holo} | Arrival] Loss begets pain

Take my hand.

Despite all she had been through, something in those words broke through the mental cage the witch had Azkadellia trapped with. All that she had witnessed second hand and through a fog and yet now she could see something more. More importantly, she could feel more. The sensation of emotion flood through her and for a moment the annuals seemed to have melted into nothing. Suddenly it was Azkadellia herself standing there in the light, the emerald ablaze about her neck and Ambrose's brilliant device twisted and on the verge of bringing darkness forever to the O.Z. Grown and hated by so many and yet the young girl that had lost herself to the witch's power that fateful day in the woods.

Reaching out, she could feel the witch fighting her, the rage buffeting her like a wild storm, tossing her about even as hands that were her own and yet unknown to her brushed against DG's. Clasping tight, holding onto that lifeline as she felt it. That sudden snap as the witch lost her hold, driven out by their magic joined. Stumbling from the dais, staring into DG's so pale eyes and then there was another wrenching, the world shifting as if the entirety of the Outer Zone was turned on its head. Then blackness.

Azkadellia came to in a small room that looked nothing like any place she knew in the Tower. Metal above, everything so different from her chambers, from that balcony where she stood during the eclipse, the darkness bathing over her

as the witch changed her world. Now her world had changed again.

"Don't let go!"

The words came from her lips before she could stop herself, scrambling to her feet. Heavy boots thudded on the floor as she looked around, gilded bodice gleaming as she turned quickly, looking for answers, looking for an exit, looking for one thing.

"Deeg?! Where are you?" Voice rising as she checked the walls, seeking a door though she found nothing but a table with a small device. The screen lit up, a small dot on a map blinking at her. Hand trembling, Azkadellia snatched it from the table, spinning on heel as the door slid open behind her.

"Hello?" She paused, peering at the door before taking a quick step toward it. Another careful step, eyes narrowing slightly. "Is anyone out there," she called, ignoring the tablet in her hands though viewing screens of a magical nature weren't entirely new to her. "Deeg? Anyone? Can you hear me?"

Another step toward the door, fingers clutching the tablet. Her lower lip quivered as she stepped out of the room and hurried along the hall, whispering under her breath.

"I swear, I didn't let go."

((ooc: For those that did the arrival on the voice test, feel free to handwave to outside the building, ie DG obvs.))

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"I'm never going to let that happen again," she promised fervently, speeding up from a jog to a run. They'd been separated for too long and, as soon as her memories had been restored to her, DG had wanted nothing more than to fix that.

"Are you outside?"

She could see the building ahead of her. It was just a few streets away now.

Azkadellia believed that. She had seen the hurt in DG's eyes in those moments before Azkadellia had come here. She could remember the timbre in her voice. She had no doubt that once united there was nothing sort of death that might tear them apart.

There was so much before her and Azkadellia knew better than to randomly try and find another place, to find her sister in this.

"Yes. I came upward and out the door. I'm on the walk just outside." She looked both ways, hoping to see her sister.

There was a part of DG - and not an insignificant part - that would never forgive herself for letting go of her sister's hand all those years ago. She'd spend the rest of her life trying to make amends.

"I'm here."

She stuffed the tablet into her pocket and ran the rest of the way, throwing her arms around her sister without further preamble.

"I've missed you."

"The witch is dead."

She'd died twice, but DG had no desire to explain her own recent encounter with the wicked creature to her sister. The memory soured the reunion, but she refused to let it spoil it. It was easier to let Azkadellia believe that it had ended on the tower.

"It's so good to see you," she said, tears pricking her eyes. She kept hold of her sister's arm as she drew back to check her over, making sure that she was both truly real and largely unharmed.

Whereas Azkadellia would always be the opposite. She would never blame DG for that moment, no matter how much she might chide herself for not doing enough. Never on DG's shoulders though. She was a small child and had endured so much that there was nothing in Azkadellia that could let her put that blame on her sister.

"DG!"

No hesitation, arms going around her sister's slight form and holding her close. "I thought... When I woke up here, I thought you were gone," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "I thought you were still on the tower alone with her, with that witch."
The reply was:
Subject: Re: [Visual]
"The witch is dead."

She'd died twice, but DG had no desire to explain her own recent encounter with the wicked creature to her sister. The memory soured the reunion, but she refused to let it spoil it. It was easier to let Azkadellia believe that it had ended on the tower.

"It's so good to see you," she said, tears pricking her eyes. She kept hold of her sister's arm as she drew back to check her over, making sure that she was both truly real and largely unharmed.