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.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was definitely something that, given the option, Azkadellia wouldn't explore again. Not even verbally if she could avoid it though she suspected that wouldn't happen though, with time, she might well get beyond her fear and nervousness and accept she would be seen for herself and not the witch most thought she was.

"Please, don't kneel," she said, waving her hand to dismiss it though her lips curled into a bit of a smile. "I don't think this meeting, or this place, stands on that sort of convention. I wouldn't expect it." Not because she wasn't still princess, or even because they weren't in the Zone but in this place - whatever it was. She didn't expect it because of who she had been to most of them, no matter that it wasn't really her.

"Object?" Her voice squeaked, breaking slightly and she ducked her head, a hint of a blush tinging her cheeks. "Of course not. You're kind to make the offer, Cain. Of course I would be honored to be considered a friend or family. Especially..." She stopped, shaking her head. "You're being much more kind to me than perhaps I think I deserve. Thank you. That means it will be Azkadellia then, at the very least. Please."

Cain nodded, giving the princess, Azkadellia, a small but gentle enough smile. "You'll forgive me if it takes me a while to work up to that. I still call your sister 'kid', and I've known her for well over an annual now. But I insist you call me Cain, if you're comfortable with it.

"And if you ever need anything, just give me a call and I'll see what I can do."

New people in this place were one thing but this was nothing she might have expected, not having had the time to see how things might change in the O.Z. with the woman she was compared to the tyrant they had known.

This though left her throat tight and her cheeks warm and flushed, nodding in appreciation. "I'll just have to keep insisting then, Mr Cain," she said, smiling brightly. "One day will happen."

Again she nodded, hands clasped before her. "You're much kinder than I would have felt I deserve from someone from the O.Z.. Thank you."

While it wasn't his place to tell the young woman what had recently happened to her sister, it had driven home one crucial fact to Cain: the Sorceress literally had a mind of her own, and a way of overshadowing that of her host. Even at his most cynical, he'd have to admit Azkadellia couldn't - or at least shouldn't - be held responsible for the Sorceress' aspirations and crimes.

"We're not in the Zone any more, princess," he said. "For better or worse, this is a fresh start. Or it can be, if you want it to. I wouldn't want to let past grudges get in the way of that.

"No one knows you here, aside from your sister, Glitch and myself. I'd make the most of that if I were you."

It was a sad reality she would eventually have to face. One that would make this place feel less welcoming than it had. Maybe for others the change was upsetting but Azkadellia truly did see it as a second chance, something new where she wouldn't have to worry about the sort of possession she'd endured. Little did she know.

"I want that more than anything, but I will also not shy from responsibility with those most hurt by magic, even if it was not my hand weilding it." It might only be the three here that knew of that but they had also been some of the most affected. Especially Glitch.

"It feels unbelievable," she admitted. "Not only to be free but to also be somewhere that the entire populace isn't looking at me as a monster."

Cain inclined his head, accepting that she wouldn't simply grab at the chance for a clean slate when feeling responsible for what happened all those long annuals ago.

Then he gave a small smile, thumbing the brim of his hat. "It'll take some time getting used to, I bet. But for what it's worth, my door'll always be open. Even if you just want a bit of quiet company, I won't mind, so long as you call ahead. I keep uneven hours, wouldn't want you to make the trip and there's no one there to greet you."

She smiled back, looking young and shy and completely like the girl she had once been despite the annuals that had passed. "I would never intrude without warning, not even on my sister," she assured him. "So you needn't worry."

Pausing a moment, she considered a question and finally decided that it would be worth asking. "I would greatly appreciate, if you have the time some afternoon, help with finding clothing more appropriate for this place, and myself. Her wardrobe choices are... different."

That's better, or so Cain thought: less like the Sorceress every second, for every hesitant hint of a smile.

And while she'd soon find out there was nothing here if not time, he decided to hold back on the potentially upsetting Taxon trivia. At least for now. And if she wanted to go shopping for something more practical, well, he certainly wouldn't fault her for it.

"I'd be happy to oblige, princess. I'm sure we'll find something you'll like.

"Have you figured a place to stay? Housing is free of charge, and the Sanctuary's full of vacant rooms on practically every floor."

Clothing. Home. Changing. It was all part of finding out who she was, and hoping that it still meshed as well with DG as they had as children. Even if she was more skittish than cautious than she had been as a child.

"Thank you. I admit, I find this entire get up..." She gestured to herself. "It is a bit... No,' she said, shaking her head with a laugh.

She sobered a bit at that question, nodding. "There was a blinking light. I followed it and it led to a very nice apartment that will do me well." She paused then, wondering if she should share and then she sighed. "And off the main room was the room with Glitch's brain in it."

He could agree with her observation for a variety of reasons, a few of which were too obvious to even dwell on, and a few which were just idle murmurs at the back of his mind along the lines of melodrama and theatrical. Point being, he knew a thing or two about needing to separate yourself from what you'd become in order to find yourself again.

But then the world seems to shift, and he falters for words, for solid ground under his feet.

"...the what?"

The Brain Room, Zero'd called it. Ambrose.

"Oh."

Just admitting that it had come with her left Azkadellia tense. What did it say about her that whatever had brought them here thought she would need or want the room. Except it had meant she and Ambrose had spoken, hadn't it? That didn't make it enough for her. Not when it seemed to hurt him so much.

Him questioning it kept her gaze down and away from him, clasping her hands in front of her.

"Yes. I... I spend most evenings knowing it is there and no idea how to reverse what was done."

But she was trying. She was working so hard to try and figure out what it was she could do to make it better for Glitch.

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

[location: Sanctuary]

[location: Sanctuary]

[location: Sanctuary]

[location: Sanctuary]

[location: Sanctuary]

[location: Sanctuary]

[location: Sanctuary]

[location: Sanctuary]

[location: Sanctuary]

[location: Sanctuary]

[location: Sanctuary]