audio; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[bindsthedead]

They're dead.

[Sabriel's voice comes out, far more emotional than her usual, carefully controlled tone, far grimmer than the bubbliness she'd faked while undercover. Instead, Sabriel sounds like she's on the edge of hysteria.]

They were dead the whole time- that was why the orb started draining me when I tried to sense them- it was blocking me but now I can't stop feeling it-

They all died. All at once. Hundreds of deaths all at the same time. But there aren't any spirits- and that many people, all dying so suddenly, some of them should have tried to linger. But there's nothing.

No spirits. Just the death.

Comments

un: blue

[bindsthedead]

No, it's just- incredibly unpleasant.

[firstroar]

Where are you?

[bindsthedead]

The teahouse. Or what's left of it.

[firstroar]

[there's no network response to that, and indeed no response at all for a while - not until Blue's mind can make its way to that teahouse.

more importantly, to Sabriel.]

Sabriel...

[the figment floats into perception at her side.]

Sorry this is so late

[bindsthedead]

[Sabriel's mind is different than before. The usual sense of restraint, of power being carefully controlled- it's gone. Instead, there's pain, fear- and the resounding echoes of hundreds of deaths in a single moment- it's a gaping, freezing wound, a constant awareness of dark water, flowing with a vicious current.]

[firstroar]

[that, tied to the lack of response to his presence at all, is more than a little troubling. Blue reaches for her, pantomiming putting a hand on her shoulder, seeking to press a little against the chilly membrane of fear clouding her focus.]

Sabriel.

[bindsthedead]

[Sabriel feels it- a spark of warmth amidst the inexorable cold, and she turns, blinking, her gaze clearing just a little bit.]

Blue?

[firstroar]

[his expression is still tight with concern, but he makes an effort to exude something softer, more reassuring in place of the pressure he can't put on her shoulder like this.]

That's right. We're all still here.

[bindsthedead]

Right. Everyone's- everyone's still alive. What happened- happened before we got here.

[Sabriel is clearly trying to talk herself down, and away from some morbid images of what might have caused so much death- and what could come crawling out of such an open door between this world and the next.]

[firstroar]

We were in a memory, it seems. A continuous memory.

Breathe, Sabriel.

[bindsthedead]

A memory of a time before-

[Breath, she needs to breath. Sabriel inhales and exhales as deeply as she can, forcing herself not to hyperventilate.]

I couldn't feel it before. When I tried, it blocked me.

[firstroar]

What was behind that door... That truth, that must've been it.