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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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]