Night of the Second Day - Printable Version

As of late, Amazon had been at an all-time low health-wise but, for some reason, an all-time high when it came to mood and activity. She still spent most of her day resting but she managed to get out every so often to stretch her legs or find a different spot. And recently she'd been thinking about what she had done in her life.

And that was a whole lotta nothing.

Why had that happened? When she was young she wanted to explore the world. See everyone, meet everyone, experience everything life had to offer. Now, she was running out of time and she'd wasted every minute of her good health on moping and thinking, things she could have done now, when she couldn't go out and travel. Frustrating and irreversible, but that didn't mean she wasn't giving up.

She was sitting in the middle of the Sinful Seven's home at the moment, not at the throne, but she had managed to climb a few steps, wanting to get the exercise in, but it had left her exhausted and a thin stream of blood running from her nose. She didn't may it much mind, though. They came frequently now and would stop on their own. She poked at the small web of a spider in a crevice between two rocks, wishing that its owner was around at the moment. But it was just an empty bunch of string. She wondered what the world looked like from a spider's eyes. How big was the world? Did any spider want to go see it all?

Did any spider have a poisonous gem growing on their body? Probably not.

Feeling a headache coming on, and a sting around the scales on her head, she instinctively reached back to bring up her magic. She hadn't used it in a few days but she was having a good day and didn't want it ruined by pain.

But nothing was there.

For a moment she was still as stone. She tried opening the gates to let her magic rush through again but she couldn't. She could barely remember how to do it properly anyways. It was like there was a mist in her mind that stopped her from thinking about it probably.

"Shit!" she squeaked, still trying to heal herself, but, in the end, failing. Her magic was gone now.

Pride clattered quietly in. That is how one walked, after all, when one had sharply-pointed hooves. And, for that matter, dangling diamond armor.

The stag looked around, glancing toward the worn throne and along its stairs. He'd been hoping to find Envy here--and Charity, as well--but what caught his eye instead... or rather, what caught his nose instead, was the faint scent of blood.

Adrenaline spiked.

Fearing the worst, he quickly paced toward the throne, peering behind it. What if something had happened to Charity? To Envy? He didn't see either of them, and as he opened his mouth to call out, he turned--and his silver gaze fell upon the small, bleeding lizard on the stairs.

He knew her, of course--from the Seven; he vaguely recalled her presence at their formation. He remembered, too, speaking to Envy about possibly helping her with some illness or other, but Envy had (if he recalled correctly, and he couldn't say with certainty that he did) dismissed the idea until some vague "later." Now, it seemed, that "later" had come--and possibly too late.

Hesitating, he stepped down from the throne and toward Amazon, speaking quietly.

"Hello--you are one of the Seven, yes? I think I recall seeing you, though I confess I cannot remember your name. I was looking for King Envy, but--I see you are bleeding. Are you all right?"

It was as tactfully-said as he could manage, his voice gently fluting, his pale rack tilting delicately to one side. All the while, he was grimly eyeing Amazon.

...She did not look well.

The soft clattering distracted her from her revelation and she looked up at the giant stag. Pride, if she remembered correctly. Seldom had they spoken but she knew that he was close to Envy and was an important member of the Seven.

It struck her for a moment that such an important leader could not recall for certain if she was even in the Sinful Seven. Which told a lot to her solitude and the time she spent in her tiny cave. Another small ripple of frusteration with herself but she passed it off. The past was the past. She couldn't get back the stolen time now.

Self consciously, her nose twitched, sending another drop of blood rolling down her face. "Yes, I'm Amazon. It's alright, I'm fine. This happens pretty often now." Probably not something to be so dismissive of but she was so very done with pitying herself. She wiped at the trickle with one of her claws, but it was futile for now. As soon as the red track was gone, another drop took its place. And now she had blood on her claws.

Pride's ears swept forward, his gaze flicking over the reptile's small body. Happened often..? "Amazon, that's right," he responded after a moment, his tone kind but his mind quite concerned. Just how had things gotten this far without Envy coming to get him..? "That does not seem--if you'll pardon the perhaps intrusive observation?--to be something that ought to be allowed to get to a... normalized state," and Pride's tone held a little concern, now. It was polite, yes--and warm--but-... Do we often get sick? I have not met many who have, if any at all--only injured. There is Envy, of course--didn't the King say that it was a similar issue? A stone?
Pale eyes found shimmering gemstone after a second, and lingered there. Something so small-... he marvelled, but with deep sadness. It pained him, aloof as he was, that others suffered so simply because of their poor luck in stone. Was it the stones themselves, he wondered--or were they simply in a bad place, anatomically? Pressing where they shouldn't, perhaps? This one might be cutting into Amazon's head, causing internal bleeding, somehow..?

"I believe the King had made mention of you being ill. I had asked to see you, at some point, to see if I can aid; do you wish that? Or is there anything else that I can do?"

He still stood quietly, towering overhead, but he did not wish to intrude--if Amazon didn't want him there, he hardly wanted to curl up and make himself comfortable in her would-be solitude.

Amazon shrugged and tried to smile but she knew he was right. But what was there besides taking it lightly? Being sad again? "I agree...it shouldn't be a normalized thing but it is. The nosebleeds are newer then the headaches and the rashes but it'll be the same as the rest." The rest of what she didn't elaborate - she was sure Pride had some kind of imagination and that her examples were sufficient.

She was a little surprised at his suggestion. She didn't know him, why should he aid her? Although she wasn't very hopeful on the matter of healing. It was too late for those things. Although she couldn't admit that if she could be used to learn for the future, then she would happily let herself be a test subject. Again, she shrugged, wiping away the last of the blood, which had finally stopped trickling. "You may try, if you like. Although I'm not sure what good it will do. I've had people try and use small magics to help me before. I myself learned a spell from Envy that helped my heal but my magic no longer works for me." It was a sad and crushing thing to say out loud but she made sure to keep herself casual and light. Anything else, she was afraid that she would spiral out of control again.

For a moment she realized that she might have been a bit rude to Pride. He was only offering his help and she was dismissing it as if he had nothing new to bring. She gave a small smile. "I'm happy that Envy is concerned about me and I'm grateful for your offer. It'd nice to know that I'm among good gembounds here."

As he listened, a multitude of possibilities were already going through his head. The possibility to isolate most of the gem with resin, as he'd planned to with Envy--painful, perhaps, but it (in his mind) ought to work. Too, there were healing magics that might aid. Perhaps purification. Aloud, though, he voiced another thought.

"I wonder; have you tried speaking to any of the Elders about it? They hold a stronger magic, I think, than many of us." His mind lingered on the Three Kings of Orion. They could grant a Gembound the magic to fly; perhaps they could heal someone. "I know of another stag who is supposedly very powerful, and a phoenix; too, there is a... an amalgamation of three birds, and then one known as 'the Collector.' If you wished to try, I could always carry you to different caves to find and ask them."

As he spoke he folded himself down, legs tucked beneath, to lay beside Amazon. This wasn't a condescending thing, or even a companionable one; he was trying to get close enough to get a better look. Nostrils flared as he took scent, and he leaned in a little, blinking. The skin around the gem looked red, raw, and painful. Blood had trickled from the lizard's tiny nostrils, and the way she lay there suggested that she hadn't all that much energy.

His stomach sank, pity lurching through him.

"...Give me a moment," he murmured, and planted his snout against the Throne.

The sizing would have to be precise.

His eyes closed, and he focused deeply, trying to bear in mind the exact shape of the tiny lizard's gem. After a moment, the rock beneath his nose quietly split, a gemstone pushing up from it--very small, and whisper-thin, hollow through its middle. It looked vaguely like Amazon's own stone in shape, but a little larger, and diamond-white.

It fell over, and Pride nosed it for a moment, as if to see if he'd made what he'd intended to.

Amazon had no idea what Pride meant by the Elders. She had never met an Elder before, she did not know who they were. She shook her head, wondering if he was right. Someone with stronger magic might help her.

But, she knew, in her heart, that it wouldn't happen. She was going to die. No magic would help her. But what else was there to do...but ask for help from anyone? "I would appreciate that. I don't know if any of them can help me continue, but it would be...nice if my last cycles were at least in a little less pain."

She was a little surprised when he got down on her level and she stood still as he worked magic. Next to her a little stone appeared, looking very much like her stone, but not green and not glowing. She peered at it curiously. "What do you intend to do?"

Pride eyed the gemstone he'd made, for a moment, knowing full well that it would not work. Or well, it might slow things, but it wouldn't stop death.

Nothing could, really. Except, perhaps, the Elders. They knew far more about life, its origins and so forth. Far more than he likely ever would.

"Take it, if you can--slip it around your own gemstone. It may be a tight fit," he warned, "and it might hurt a bit where you press it against your skin, but it should stop the direct contact to your skin if you do it deeply enough. Your skin might even heal against the--well, cap, as it were. But it cannot isolate your gemstone where it touches bone beneath. I could not do that without severing the stone from you, which would kill you." He leaned back abruptly, using his lips to roughly scratch an itch on his own hind leg, then swung his head forward again, blinking a bit.

"If you do wish to travel with me, Amazon, you must merely name a destination. I believe I know where most of the Elders are. The phoenix is said to be in Pisces. I do not know where to find the stag, but the Three Kings are here in Orion. And there are others, I believe."

Curious, she stepped forward and prodded the little crystal before raising her self up as far as she could go. She bent her head and, balancing on her hind legs, carefully picked up the gem. Once she had it in her claws she flopped back on her stomach and did her best to reach back and shove it against her gem.

It took a few seconds of struggling and tugging before she was finally able to smash it down over the green shard and she gave a small squeak of pain as it stabbed against the raw skin around the base. After a few seconds of adjusting to it, it settled into a dull throb, joining all the others pains she lived with constantly.

She had no idea if it would work but she no longer felt that small, uncomfortable heat against her scales and, for that, at least, she was grateful. "Thank you. I hope that it works."

She instinctively reached up to heal herself but then remembered that magic no longer worked for her and she let her claw rest back on the ground with a sour expression.

"I don't know where to go...I don't know who to help but if there's anything in the caves you know of that's worth the trip, I'd at least like to see it." She didn't look at Pride now, instead focusing intensely on her claws. "I wanted to see everything when I was a kid. Now I don't know if I have time to even visit all the caves."

The stag tilted his head a little, thinking. His eyes travelled over Amazon as he did--she was ill, that much was clear, but she'd managed with the gemstone at least. Perhaps it would help. How much, he couldn't say.

Not enough. Damn Envy for not bringing me to her sooner. The stag cleared his throat, a little, glancing about in thought. The Three Kings were worth a visit on their own. Pisces was certainly beautiful, and if the phoenix truly lived there, perhaps he could be of aid. Pride had no idea where to even begin looking for "Astraea," though--the other stag.

"Well, we can try the Kings here, perhaps--and if they cannot help, we can seek the phoenix in Pisces. The falls, at least, are worth a visit," he went on, but a sour melancholy was settling in his stomach. He had never known anyone destined for death; it was an unpleasant thought, and a saddening one. "Have you seen the Spire in Polaris, or the Twister in Monoceros?" He didn't mention Canis. A room full of bones wasn't exactly prime tourist destination, nor was it a good distracting place for someone bound to be bones, themselves.