ORIGIN

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(occurs during the Obstacle Course race, though others are free to step in if they aren't actively racing!)

Khloros took a few staggering steps forward.

Around him, Gembound joyously raced past, intensity written across their faces. He stumbled a little in the wake of their passing, the mere air from their race enough to put him off of his precarious balance. The Spire shone brightly behind him. His coat gleamed with health, his mane and his tail thick.

None of this is right.

Why was he here...? How had he gotten here?

Faint fear--the fear of all of those who cannot remember their immediate past--showed plainly enough on his face. The pinned ears, the flared nostrils; the whites of his new, warm brown eyes flashed in the blue light. He stepped cautiously toward the unicorn who had called him to her, her own white coat shining beautifully--a complete antithesis to himself. To-...

White. I remember white.

As he gazed upon her, his steps faltered. Images flashed through his mind. To his eye, Ayr seemed to become a centaur-like creature--a kindly face and clear arms upon the front of her torso, rather than a neck, a head, and horns. He remembered-...

"Pain," he murmured aloud, his velveteen lips moving but the sound too soft for anyone to hear. "Pain, that stag-... the Spire..." His neck turned so sharply that he nearly fell, staggering a few weak step sideways and pausing to stare back at the Spire.

He remembered--remembered it tearing him apart, piece by piece, at Astraea's behest. Remembered the gentleness that had followed, the white void-plane, the white centaur-being-... He jerked back to stare at Ayr, but she was herself--just a unicorn, if such a thing could ever be simple. But she was not the creature who had cradled him in his dream, in his vision--in his reality? She was, however, equally kind-faced and appeared concerned, and Khloros--lost now, bewildered at what was happening--finally made his way off the racetrack and to her.

"I'm sorry, I've--just woken up." He turned, for a beat, staring back at the Gembound racing through the obstacles. He did not recognize any of them, though he wasn't sure how much of that might be flickering memory from before his rebirth. But-... just how long had it been? He turned back to Ayr, his eyes vulnerably wide, his voice scratchy with disuse but soft beneath. "I don't know how long it's been."

His words were plaintive, almost pleading, as if he hoped that Ayr could tell him just how long he had been gone. As if he feared it had been decades--or more.

@Ayr @Mercurius

Ayr appeared to be concerned because she was, in fact, concerned.

She had no idea that a part of judging the obstacle course meant that there was a risk of a fully-grown horse wandering out onto the track, clueless and lost, and start muttering about pain and the Spire and a stag.

Ayr's eyes briefly traced to where Astraea had been moments ago. Perhaps if a stag had put this horse into the chrysalis-.... He must mean a different stag, she thought. She hoped. She did not mention it either way-- there were many stags in the caves, after all.

She nodded encouragingly as Khloros stepped towards her, then again as he stepped off the race track and towards her. She half-turned with the intention of leading him back to the formation of rocks she and Mercurius were judging from, half to keep an eye on the racers, and half for Mercurius' aid.

"It'll be alright," Ayr said, reassuringly, as the unicorn trotted carefully back. "You've, ahh, awoken in the middle of the olympics, they call it. Just some games, this one a race. For-- fun?" She didn't actually have a clue why these were a thing. Just that they were.

She hesitated, briefly, at Khloros' sort-of question. Ayr did, at least, pick up that he was hoping she would know how long he'd been there, but she didn't have a clue. If he'd been there when she first entered Polaris, she didn't see or remember. She could recall seeing it while she was helping set the track itself up, but other than that?

"When gembound are injured," she began very slowly, going off merely of what she did know-- of what happened at the battle in Eridanus. "They usually remain in their chrysalises for.. half a cycle, perhaps two at the most?" It was a weak answer, but she hoped it would offer some clarity for the horse, at least.

Ayr reached the formation of rocks where Mercurius was, turning herself around carefully to half-face Khloros and half-face the track again, moonlit eyes glancing between the two. "My name is Ayr," she said, mid-turn. "If you are still in pain, I can try to mend the wounds, if there are any? I can also offer you some water."

@Mercurius

The old lion was, as he did, dutifully watching over the Olympics in a rather regal state: lying on his stomach with his head held high and forelimbs folded delicately beneath him. Ayr had --- once again --- bounded down to the floor, toward the Spire. When she returned, there was a black stallion in tow. To state the obvious, he thought, that is not one of the competitors from the race. The duo skirted about the glowing precipice and the racers, hoping not to be trampled.

This poor stallion looked disoriented, staring to and fro. Mercurius's fellow judge guided him toward the platform, and the storyteller immediately understood. Moonlit eyes shifted from the competition --- hopefully none of the Gembound would wind up playing dirty in those few seconds --- and onto the vine-formed staircase he had previously held up for Ayr. Magicka shot through his horns as they arced through the air.

Almost instantaneously, the stairs shuddered and lost shape entirely. The vines fell limp, unwinding themselves from one another and reforming anew. Within a few seconds, they had formed a gentle slope, a ramp that was easy on weary paws --- or, hooves, in this case.

@Khloros

Khloros hesitated, still baffled by just about everything. The reassurance he felt at Ayr's mention of a cycle or so was distant. He felt a peculiar numbness take over him as he stepped delicately onto Mercurius's plantwoven ramp. These are not my legs. These aren't-... This isn't me. I'm not me. Do I--still carry death..? He reached out, struggling for his magicka--intending to tap into the plants below, and drain a touch of their strength, as a test--and found nothing.

He had no magic.

Panic, for a moment, set in--and the great black stallion briefly reared, his nostrils flaring and eyes widening. He reached, in turn, for his plague, for his disease immunity, even for his ability to sense bacterial activity--and again and again, he found nothing.

He then stood still for a moment, up between the judges, now, his flanks heaving. He turned slowly to Ayr, fear in his gaze. Is this a nightmare? --A punishment? Do I no longer carry Death? --Perhaps this is normal?

"Is it-... normal to lose one's magicka for a time..?" he asked softly, his ears briefly pinning back against his head. Ayr seemed knowledgable in these things, at least.

Khloros looked around behind him, gazing in a lost fashion at the racers--feeling, for a moment, as though he were a spectator and not at all himself. For a moment he remembered that Ayr had introduced herself--but was he Khloros any longer..? The thought was too troublesome to tackle right now, and so he didn't answer, pushing the idea aside. "Water-... Water would be good--please. Thank you."

@Ayr

Ayr's concern grew at Khloros' hesitance, followed by his question. She knew, logically, that yes-- Ayr had several instances of not being able to cast, particularly if she were weary or had just woken up.

The unicorn climbed back up onto the rock formation, settling down on her side and tucking her slender legs under her. "Yes, for a time," she spoke softly as she moved. "Perhaps it's because you just woke up. You should try again after you've had something to eat and drink?"

Speaking of which-- she bent her head down, shutting her eyes. The moonstone chunk coiled around her tail glimmered briefly and, with a sharp flash of light, a banana appeared. She had meant, of course, merely to summon water, so that Khloros could drink, but this would... presumably also be fine.

She nudged it forward, clearing her throat. "It's, ahh, not water. Apologies," she said, then explained-- in case Khloros had never seen it before. "It is a banana. The skin is very bitter, but the flesh inside is very nice. Try it?"

She nudged it forward a little more before she turned her gaze back towards the obstacle course, eyeing the participants racing towards the crystal river. "May I ask what happened to you?" She asked, to the stallion, long ears flicking briefly. "If you remember, of course-- and feel comfortable. It wasn't one of those, ahh.. murderers, was it?"

@Mercurius @Khloros

A strong sense of relief seized him at Ayr's words, so that when he folded himself down to lay before the offered banana, he nearly collapsed in so doing.

His ears pinned as he sniffed the banana over, and after snipping it open with blunt healthy, strong teeth, he rapidly consumed the sweet fruit within. He trembled, briefly, glancing around and then back up to the unicorn and the lion. He didn't want to relive what had happened--he wasn't sure that he could even remember it clearly, at the moment--but he struggled to put it into words nonetheless. Ayr was polite enough, and aiding him; his discomfort was not reason enough to refuse her question. He was confused, too, by all of it. If I speak of it maybe I can get my thoughts in order.

"I remember... seeing the Spire." Nightmarish imagery flashed through his head, and he squeezed his new brown eyes tightly shut. "A land above, dead. Something hateful dwelling in the stone. I spoke of destroying it, and a stag-... Mushrooms on his fur, and a red gem at his forehead; I don't know what he's called. He spoke of our purpose, of us--of all of us--being cast-offs, byproducts of past failures. He claimed they were disposed of, that we are slaves of some kind. I argued for freedom--he used some sort of magic to force me into the Spire. It--tore my body apart," he went on hoarsely, skipping over the long moments of agony where his flesh had burned from his muscle, which burned from bone, bit by screaming bit. "There was a white being--when I died, and I think I did die. She was white, like you." Was it a she? I don't know, he thought. Perhaps he was just thinking of it as female now that Ayr, a similarly graceful, peaceful white being, was here. "You remind me of her, or--it; kind, gentle, and pale. It had four legs, and arms, and it cradled my head in a vast white place and spoke to me. She said that she would... "honor my efforts against Him," but I do not know who "him" is. Perhaps the stag, or perhaps the angry thing within the crystal." Khloros, exhausted, was unaware of how insane his rambling likely sounded. "She spoke of settling me to rest for rebirth-... and asked that I help others to see as I do. I think she meant... my speech of our souls being trapped, here. Kept prisoner, to be reborn again and again without release."

He fell silent, his muzzle pressing against the stone as he rested his head downward, thoughtful. He wasn't sure what else to say. He wasn't sure what it all even meant.

He wasn't sure who he was, anymore.

@Ayr @Mercurius

For a few minutes, Mercurius had been content to allow Ayr to take care of this situation; they weren't too close of friends, but the solidarity of being healers and pacifists brought about a great sense of trust and companionship. The old lion merely listened for that time, ears attentive but eyes focused elsewhere. Some Gembound straggled, eventually dropping out of the race. Others seemed to persevere by sheer luck and the whim of some unseen force --- fate, perhaps? What a concept.

Rather unintentionally, the storyteller's magic began to spin... bringing with it a --- for lack of better wording --- flood of imagery and a hauntingly familiar face (a red stag, why are they always---? he broadcasted unintentionally to Khloros, softly against the backdrop of everything. A dusky cloud swarmed his view, acidic green eyes burning sharply against his conscious. Something better left unseen. A struggle, proclamations of being a Harbinger and only finding death for himself ("He is not the first to have thought himself a King." "What magic is this? What have you done?" "Die.") There was burning white edging in on vision, the thrum of magicka so strong it immediately drove a migraine deep into the base of Mercurius's skull. It was calm, suddenly, and he saw a brief flicker of some odd, ethereal creature ("Help the others to see as you do.")

The being disappeared into some apparition of the spire as Khloros concluded. The storyteller, suddenly conscious of his thought-invasion --- when have I learned this magic? --- abruptly cut off the connection, trailing a sense of despondency and sheer lostness. Mercurius's breath hitched, caught on the--- oh, his thoughts raced, now too.

Where is Pride? Moonlit eyes searched briefly, panickedly into the crowd of Gembound below. I saw--- that stag, I think. Only a glimpse but... there could be danger, here. His flank shuddered as he sucked in a deep breath and realized his endeavors were futile. His head simply turned toward Khloros, then Ayr. In a quiet, reverent voice --- shaky with his labored breaths --- Mercurius whispered, "you should not have suffered so." He paused, inhaling so deeply he thought his lungs would burst.

"Was that... was that the sky?"

@Ayr

Ayr, although she wasn't too sure of exactly what was going on, but as Khloros spoke she had the same thought as Mercurius. It might be dangerous here.

She stared off after where Astraea had been with a slight shudder before the unicorn pushed up and stepped off the rocks again, though this time she didn't approach the track. Instead, in a rare show of mild panic, she paced back and forth while watching the racers.

Even so, that panic might have been hard to see. To others, she may have just been simply stretching her legs again.

You remind me of her caused Ayr to stop, just for a moment, lifting her head back up to Khloros for a moment before she continued to pace, cloven hooves clicking melodically against the cave floor. "Thank you for telling us," she said quietly, pale eyes darting back to where the stag had been. "I am sorry you had to relive it."

Ayr took a quiet breath, looking between the participants and the empty space. She wondered, as Mercurius asked about the sky, if they should say anything about the mushroom-ridden stag being nearby, watching, as Khloros emerged.

She turned her head towards the lion, blinking slowly. She wish she had the magic to ask, or the knowledge to know what to do about it.

@Khloros

"It was... a place I have never seen. And the white was--a place... without anything else. Then I slept." He pushed himself up, then, his legs trembling. He'd only been down for a moment, but he was dizzy with confusion and thirst, and the distant scent and sound of gurgling water drew him.

"I'm going--to the river. I need water," he explained softly. "Thank you for speaking with me. I've--much I do not understand." There was a deep and quiet sorrow to these words, the horse staring off at nothing for a moment.

He didn't know what anything meant, anymore. Perhaps he never had. Memories flitted dizzily--Booker and Baratheon, Nemesis and Louie. Friends and foes, life and death, all chaos and horror writhing through the caves.

Trapped-... we're trapped here. I have to figure out what to do.

For a moment, he remembered Astraea's threat. The stag had snarled that Khloros was allowed to try and earn his freedom.

For a moment, as he started off toward the river, he wondered if perhaps he had.

@Mercurius

Khloros did not know if the world above had possessed a sky, if he had seen it; the endless white was not a sky, either. Mercurius stared blankly, simply swallowing down the knot in his throat --- this is far too vivid to be anything but true; my shows of light pale in comparison to... this. --- and watching as the redeemed horse rose. In the blips of those memories, triggered by his own unintentional broadcasting, the storyteller may have seen plague and disease and rot, but was haunted by the singular image of Hasira --- that stag blinded by grand, destructive visions and the idea of Gods in these Caves, hurt beyond belief and... perhaps beyond saving.

I do not know him, he thought quietly, making brief eye contact with Ayr --- hopefully establishing a crucial mental connection between himself and the unicorn --- but I do not want to allow him to go down there... I believe I saw the very stag he described, down there, waiting by the Spire. The implications of danger and disaster were obvious, but Mercurius continued, the last thing these Olympics and--- children, need is chaos.

Keeping the mental link open for any possible responses, moonlit eyes trailed after the stallion, standing to get a drink. "You should--- stay here, and rest. Ayr can conjure water for you, I believe." A look, toward the Gembound in question (should we tell him? he asked her, softly.) "This competition should be concluding shortly, and you could come to Eridanus. I have a garden there, suitable for resting and contemplation."

@Ayr

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Khloros

Ayr

Mercy

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