Aftermath - Jygust 31st MT - Open

Callara · Post by **Callara** » Fri Aug 29, 2008 10:24 am

Jygust 31st - Morningtide
Ushuaia's hut

Two marks prior

"Callara..." There was a man standing above the battered blond - she could hear him but not see him, her vision darkened...perhaps by bandages or perhaps something had happened to her eyes before waking. His voice was as unfamiliar to her as the word which issued from both his lips as it had from the mouth of the grotesque aboard the ship. Judging from his tone, the man was both happy to see her finally awake and concerned that she had been sleeping. "Callara..." he repeated, using that term...or was it a name of sorts? "When you were delivered two tides ago, the men who brought you told me that you killed a man. Would you mind telling me why? I do love your ambition, my student, but you take unnecessary risks, I fear and that could well get you killed."

She would feel him sit on the edge of the bed, guiding a cup of water into her hands, but even his touch brought no memory of his name or her own identity. Her mind, she would find, retained its skills, her blood its power, although both would be weakened for a day or two. She had killed a man, as far as she knew and, unbeknown to her, he had returned the favor before passing - at least for the foreseeable future - and the memories of the woman named Callara...her life...her loves...her ambitions...lay either dead or dormant within the confines of the woman's damaged mind.

[hr]

Callara sat up. Her head pounding all over. Back, front, sides, all the way down her brain stem it hurt. She had to lay back down again for a few burns before giving it a slow second attempt. Open or closed, her eyes saw nothing. She felt around and deduced she was sitting on something...What was the word...b...b...Something with b. The man who had helped her before was not in the room right now, or so she thought. She couldn't see him, nor hear him. He had said things to her which she had understood. So apparently she spoke the same language as him, but the words wouldn't come to her.

He had said she was his student. She was a she right...A quick check confirmed it. At least she remembered that. Callara? Sounded...no...not sure. Probably her name. What had he said...she had killed someone? A man? Why on Tazlure would she...Tazlure...that was familiar. Something about a place where she lived? She had killed? A man? She was delivered? So she had been...sleeping? Why would she fall asleep after killing someone? And why did she not remember anything?

Anything...

Anything at all...

She felt dizzy again and needed to lie down. Her head pounded, her thoughts crushed by the sheer emptyness of knowing nothing. She felt around again. Apparently she was wearing clothes. A slight comfort at least. She felt, vulnerable, naked. Something inside her told her she didn't like feeling that way.

Her dead eyes tried to cry, but no tears came from the scorched sockets.[/hr]

Post by **Maeve** » Fri Sep 05, 2008 11:03 pm

How comfortable it would perhaps have been to go back to sleep. Yet the time for that had passed and sleep refused to catch up again. There was just emptiness, silence. Yet that in turn promised so much else. The softly scratching of a mouse on the floor, the light of the sun playing on her face.

In the darkness Callara could hear the deep resonant voice of somebody beyond the room although she could not make out the words. It was more like a presence, a humming just beyond her senses.

Callara · Post by **Callara** » Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:45 am

Deciding that the time for self pity was over, a feeling of confidence took hold of her as she became aware of the input her other senses provided her. She heard someone in another room, meaning that whoever had been here before did not leave her to rot. "He damn well better not have."

"Wait, where did that come from?" She was a little disturbed by the aggressiveness of the thought that had just occured to her. Was she really like that? But the words of the man resonated within her mind once more; "You have killed a man..."

"Hello?" The word came out, but only barely. Her throat was sore and the sound of her voice sounded familiar and alien at the same time. She tried it again. "Hello? Is anyone there?" Once more she sat up slowly, her hands going to her eyes to wipe away tears that had not come, her fingertips touching what remained of her scarred eyes and eyelids.

"What happened to me..."

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:43 pm

At first, nothing answered her call aside from birds chirping outside, and wind rustling through trees. After a burn or two, something Callara may have found familiar approached from the door. The relative silence was broken by a deep voice from the other side of the room.

"So, you have awakened... Have you recovered your senses, Callara?" The voice sounded warm, patient. Tap, tap, tap. The brash noise of feet against the floor disturbed the peaceful morningtide atmosphere. The vibrations could be felt rising from the ground and through the bed, and the feet stopped in what sounded like the center of the room.

"I suppose there is a lot to be discussed."

Callara · Post by **Callara** » Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:28 pm

Her ears followed the sound of footsteps. Her eyes revealing nothing but the empty void that was the world to her. A wave of emotion washed over her as the man approached. Fear, pain, anger, joy, relief, fear. She tried to remember. Tried to think of a name to the person who came up to her, but it wouldn't come. Her head was pounding, veins throbbing at her temples.

"My senses?" Her eyes turned to where the footsteps had stopped, but nothing appeared to her. Somewhere she had hoped she might have been suffering from a temporary affliction that clouded her sight. So far, this didn't appear to be the case.

"I'm not sure what there is to be discussed. I don't even know what happened." Suddenly, a feeling struck her. The same feeling that had thrown her to the bed crying earlier. The same feeling that had caused her to rile in anger at the thought of the man who had sheltered her leaving;

Despair.

"Actually, I have no idea what I am doing here! Who are you? Who am I? I killed someone? Why? What? Who? All I know is I am in a house, blind and helpless. I can't remember anything! What did I do to deserve this?! Why?! Why is this happening to me?! Why don't I remember anything?!"

At that exact flicker, as the words stopped spilling from her lips, her mind concluded she did in fact remember something; How to speak. This realization alone was enough to confuse her.

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 4:24 am

"Callara, you must calm down. Try to remember- but not too hard. If you strain yourself, you'll only know desperation and confusion..." The steps drew nearer and were now at the foot of the bed. "Do you not remember my voice? I am your teacher. I do not know exactly why you killed that man, but you clashed with him in the Broken Blade Arena, I..." He paused. "...I'm sorry, this is too much for you to try to think about right now. Why don't you just try to remember my name? Do you remember your own?" He slowed his speech. It was calm, gentle and compassionate.

"Just be still and calm. Your memories will return, this is not permanent I assure you."

Callara · Post by **Callara** » Fri Sep 26, 2008 7:58 am

Calm...

Still...

Focus...

Words that meant little among the swirling mass of fear and confusion that was what remained of Callara's mind. Synapses fired and relays connected as she tried to make sense of it all.

Teacher...So she was a student? An arena? She had killed a man, was she a gladiator? But he didn't know why she did. So she was not, otherwise her reasons would have been rather obvious. Not permanent? So she would remember? Logic still controlled her mind as she connected some of the dots as to her personality. But while these words gave her a measure of comfort, it was fairly little still. She managed to contain some of her anxiety however. While still breathing heavily she tried to remember names, places.

There was nothing but a black void.

"I...don't remember."

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:56 am

"Your position in the Broken Blade Arena is being covered temporarily by Jeet-Belan." The foot of the bed sank as Ushuaia sat down. "Jeet-Belan, Raphael, do these names not strike a chord in your subconscious at least?" The air grew warm and moist near Callara's hands, and steam rose up to meet her face. "Here is some tea, if you like. It is bitter, but very healthy. It is an exotic tea from the Happenstance that is said to sharpen the mind, and help with amnesia. I don't know how well it works... But it can't hurt near as I figure. Careful though, it is quite warm." There was a small cup of hot tea on a saucer that was now touching Callara's right hand.

"Just remember, I'm here for you if you need a guiding word... And please make sure to tell me if you remember anything at all."

Callara · Post by **Callara** » Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:18 pm

Callara took the tea. She had no idea how well if at all it would work. She figured she had naught to lose by drinking it, so she did. The man gave her more names, more places. As she sat she tried to remember, but she recalled nothing. The arena...she tried to recall what it looked like. But nothing came to her. Jeet-Belan? Raphael Terrel? Didn't ring a b...

"Hold on. He didn't say Terrel..."

A flash of a face appeared in her mind. It seemed odd, distorted and transparent. Like she would imagine a ghost would look. A smile on the face before it dissipated. It seemed odd to her and the image didn't last, like a burst of memory before it faded back in with the intense blackness she had to endure in both mind and visage.

"I thought I saw...a face. But how can I remember a face when I am blind? I wasn't always blind, was I?" A free hand went to her face once more, touching the scarred tissue that covered her eye sockets. "There is so much darkness, so much I don't remember. My own name is unfamiliar. Callara...Callara...Callara." She tasted the word a few times, trying to convince herself she knew it was her name. Yet nothing happened.

"I don't recall my own name, nor yours. You say you are my teacher. What is it exactly you're teaching me? Who are you?"

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 4:09 am

"You were not always blind, Callara. You once were blessed with much more than just sight. But- nothing is permanent. Your memories may return, and someday we can hope that your eyesight will too." His voice was decreasing in its gentility. He was beginning to sound less calm and more anxious, impatient almost.

"The darkness is a curse that may threaten to follow you forever because of a deadly pact you are committed to. I am Ushuaia, and I am teaching you to control that curse and escape from the darkness... Through all the nightmares you may witness, I will be there to guide you, to share your fears, and crush your enemies." Callara may not have been able to read his thoughts, or even see his half-smile at that moment, but his voice sounded rather bright as he continued to speak. "Do you not remember this brutish force you were master to?"

"...This was a pact that was made in blood, if you will."

Callara · Post by **Callara** » Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:12 pm

"Can you be any more cryptic?! By K'tan, just tell me the truth straight up. I don't REMEMBER!"

Again she was struck by the way her words came out. Subconciously she seemed driven to find answers, any way they'd come. "Do I really have such a bad temper? Or is it just the confusion?" She had mentioned K'tan. A god or something probably, judging from the way she had used the word. She seemed to remember something vaguely about a man riding her for reading a bunch of scrolls, and learning the text therein for reciting in the temple a few days later. Her father.

On the mention of blood there were vague blots of memory seeping into her mind. Mostly the color red, and none of them very pleasant. She seemed to recall something that happened to her but a short while ago. Yet she had no point of reference to check that assumption.

"I'm sorry, It's just that all I get is shreds and pieces. My head is empty, and that scares me." She sipped some more of the tea. "I seem to recall things though, so that's something at least. Could you just tell me, Ushuaia, where I am and what day it is?"

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Mon Sep 29, 2008 2:18 am

"Well, I see that your temper has returned." He laughed gallantly and he sighed. "Very well then, I shall tell you straight up what you want to hear. I fear that if you hear everything at once it will be too much, but I shall oblige." He rose from the bed, and it straightened out once again and his steps made their way to the center of the room.

"Your name is Callara. You are in Roque D'Ancourt and it is Jygust 30th, the summer solstice. You are the manager of the Broken Blade Arena where you used your accursed power to kill Raphael Terrell. This accursed power of yours... It is because you share an agreement with a blood-spirit that grants you the ability to manipulate the very blood in another person's veins. You are a recognized mindcrafter, a practitioner of magick and a feared soul indeed. You may or may not remember that the cursed power within you threatens to consume you if you weaken in your will." He paused. Dammit I'm telling her too much! I don't think she can handle all this.

"I suppose it's a good thing you're so damn stubborn or else you would probably be entirely vanquished right now... "

Callara · Post by **Callara** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:51 pm

Callara's jaw couldn't help but drop.

"Yeah...sure...Next thing you're going to tell me I came here in a house which dropped from the sky and fell on top of some old hag who happened to have a great taste in shoes..."

Pondering it a little she could not help but dismiss half of what he had told her. The other half however would explain a few things, insane as they might sound. "But if I am a mindcrafter...whatever that is...and I do magick...if that even exists...then he is one too." Had she had eyes, she would have looked up at him with fear. She did not however so all she accomplished was moving her head from "looking" down into her hands to up at where his voice emanated from in something that seemed a vague attempt at a frown.

"So...this guy I killed..." She didn't think it mattered much at this point to linger on silliness like magick and such. "...Why exactly did I kill him again?" He seemed to have all the answers. If what he said was true, her memories would return eventually. She had no idea when or how though, so better safe than sorry.

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Wed Oct 01, 2008 6:39 pm

"I don't know why you killed him, Callara. I would assume that it had something to do with the hateful spirit that dwells within you." His voice grew quite serious, but returned to a kinder tone.

"You might not have your memories back just yet, but I must remind you that you don't have to be blind, my student." He sought to remedy her pain. At least so that she could remedy his own. "You are more than a normal person, and if you focus on the world around you, you may find that you can 'see' with supernatural eyes." He walked towards her, and she could hear his clothes rustling a bit against themselves as he kneeled down before her. He placed a hand on her shoulder. It was warm, and she could feel a sort of calming vibe coming from him.

"You can see with the eyes of the Aether, Callara. It won't fully restore your vision, but it can show you what is around you, at the very least." He paused, unsure of something. "Callara, can you try to recall how to use magick? Granted you are in a state of weakness, but I think you still have some potency to you, however small."

Callara · Post by **Callara** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 11:53 am

Ushuaia kept telling her weirder and weirder things. Now the old goat was telling her she could see, while she was fairly certain, another touch of her fingertips to the scarred flesh confirmed it, that her eyes did not function, nor would they ever again. Now he told her that she had another way of seeing, without her eyes?

More pieces of the puzzle wirmed their way into places they should not go, according to logic. Yet for lack of a better spot they settled where they fit. He had told her she was a mindcrafter, that she wielded magick and that some part of that magick allowed her to see without her eyes. A sharp sting to her eyes and head flashed through her mind as she recalled something, a man standing over her, older, in a house with a wooden ceiling, a window looking out over the Mer. A burning feeling and then...darkness. "The Mer..." She whispered the name. She recalled it as being the last thing she ever saw with her own eyes. A choice was made, though she didn't recall how or why it had been made.

"You blinded me...it was you..." Suddenly she wasn't all that certain she was very safe in the house anymore. She felt the sudden need to escape as her temples started to throb and a new rush of fear washed over her like a tidal wave.

"No...I'm not going to succumb to this..."

She sought tranquility, calm, peace. She breathed in and out, irregularly at first, more steadily as her mind put more pieces of the puzzle together. She was still lacking a great many pieces, but belief was starting to kick in, disbelief and wonder making way for acceptance.

"I am a killer. I have killed using magick I know how to control. I...am not helpless. So how is it I don't remember?"

Mindcrafter...

"My mind...the person I killed...was a mindcrafter too." A burst of images, feelings rather. A glass breaking in her left hand, the face, a dance or struggle of sorts...Her mind sought to place all these memories. For some reason there was a lot of red involved in them. Blood spirit...blood? "I still don't see. But I remember bits and pieces...I...need some time to think..."

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:18 pm

Ushuaia grew nervous. Callara's fragmented memories is likely to make her dangerous and unpredictable. She remembers that I blinded her, but she doesn't remember that I did so to save her life... He chose his next words very carefully, and a burn passed in silence.

"You are not helpless, Callara. Despite this, with your memories scattered the way they are right now you are not yourself. You cannot take the memories you find now too seriously, for they are incomplete, and bound to lead you to incorrect conclusions..." He began to walk towards the door, but his steps stopped about two meters away from her bed.

"Thinking and reflecting within your mind would be most advisable. If you have doubt, you must trust me. If I were your enemy, I would have already taken advantage of you. You must know that I am your friend."

Three soft steps marked his turning around to face her again. "Would you like me to help you regain your abilities? Or do you not yet trust me."

Callara · Post by **Callara** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:32 pm

"I...I don't know what to trust. I can't even trust myself right now. You tell me a lot but it is vague and unfamiliar." She got up. She moved her head as if trying to look around, but her eyes revealed nothing to her yet. "For now...I think...I need some fresh air. Could you help me just get oustide? My head is killing me."

She was not speaking lies. Her mind was still working feverishly to connect the dots. Unbeknownst to her the blood spirit of which Ushuaia had spoken so casually was also working hard to connect some dots of his own, and remove some...

OOC: I think we can wrap it at this. I'll pick it up in the thread with Elvira from here and make one at tradetide once I figure out where to go next.

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:43 pm

"Right, I understand how you feel entirely. Here Callara take my hand." Ushuaia took Callara's hand and guided her out of his home. He wished her luck on her way outside, and he returned to some business of his inside the house. Once he was inside, Callara noticed a presence. Despite her blindness she could see it, a faint aura.

There was something very soothing about it's presence, and Callara may have felt that she could trust it, for no explainable reason. As it moved around in front of her, it's aura became brighter until Callara could almost see it perfectly. She now could tell by the nature of it's aura that the being was benevolent.

Good to see you again, Callara...

Haikan · Post by **Haikan** » Thu Oct 02, 2008 7:45 pm

Locked for skilling.

Skill points awarded to Callara:

*Inner Calm - Apprentice+**
*Inner Sight - Basic+****
*Aura Perception - Apprentice+***