biteitback | PSL: Eternal Fires

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PSL: Eternal Fires

Something had been pulled in by the grasp. While the Nysgods had faith in their technology, there were things in the universe that bypassed technology altogether. Old lost magic still had a firm grip on its effectiveness and its reach. What was a neighboring reality to something that lived in the hub of endworlds? Something had been pulled into the temple in the shape of a little girl.

The girl had blended well with the rest of the Candidates, a clever old mind that she was, and was accepted warily, but readily. No one could figure out why the child would be fit to marry Tristan, not even the race of people that had nabbed her. Once she saw the purple haired artist, it was clear why she had been brought back. Revenge. The anger would be shared with everyone, as the girl hadn't any care enough to narrow it down to one soul. What was one soul to something that had corrupted and consumed thousands? It was a slow plan, but patience was well learned.

It started with the dreams and they were all the same. The walls peeled when no one was looking, only the sick wet sound of the stone curling away from the gridded rebar that lay underneath. There was never any silence anymore, the echo of metal dragging across stone in everyone’s ears. The heat from a fire that will never go out burnt at their skin, leaving no mark. Older Candidates flipped out more than some of the more recent arrivals. The Council had holed up for three days arguing over it, sending convoys to and from the Nysgods. It left everyone agitated and on an edge, looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Then someone died. It was only a servant; only an omen as to what was coming, only a warning to the population.

The next day, things had settled as well as they could, but everyone was worse for the wear. Devi had fought sleep when she could, the only solution to the bristle of instinct in her stomach that made her bed feel large and ominous. It was early, quarter til five if one had a watch and Devi sat cross legged on the balcony, wrapped up in a bulky grey sweater to fight off the morning chill and dew. A cup of tea steamed in her hands, fingers laced around the cup for the warmth. Normally, she’d have coffee, but considering her goal of not sleeping, a caffeine crash was not something she was looking for.

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Draco had never been particularly good at sleeping to begin with. It was a bad habit that had stuck with him long after the war, when he couldn't sleep for fear of either nightmares plaguing him or of someone killing him while he lay in bed. At any rate, it was coming in handy now, when the temple was being seemingly tipped on its ear in a variety of ways. Gone were the days where they all explored and meandered and generally enjoyed their boredom; now, Draco found it impossible to do much other than sit and fret.

People dying only served as a reminder to what the temple could look like. Times like now, its resemblance to Hogwarts worked against it, letting Draco better imagine what it might look crumbling and covered in the corpses of those he knew and cared about. It was enough to make him sick to his stomach, adding an inability to eat to his inability to sleep. Not even tea was helping.

He'd taken instead to wandering around like a bit of a zombie, never really focusing on anything as he moved save to recognise when there was an obstacle in his way. He wasn't sure where he was going, but realised after some time that his feet had led him somewhere, at least: they'd led him to Devi. Why, he didn't know, but he didn't question it. All the blond did was push one hand through his hair and pad over to where she sat, joining her silently as he drew his cardigan tighter around himself.

The fighter took peace where she could get it and the clear sky was a respite from her bedroom walls. She missed her roof and the view she got from the place she identifies at home. Devi looked over at Draco when he leaned on the railing.

"Morning," she said softly, as though to gently break the morning silence. Being loud was definitely for the later hours and not for nearly five am. Besides, who had that kind of energy anymore. She would have said good morning, but there wasn't anything particularly good about it yet, outside of the fact that she wasn't dead yet. There were points given for the tea though.

"Can't sleep?" The most likely reason. No one slept well anymore.

"Is it?" He asked quietly, eyes locked out over the edge at nothing in particular. He could never tell what time of day it was any more. Niflheim's lack of a proper sunrise and sunset schedule was slowly doing him in; beautiful as the place was, Draco's mind needed a bit more order than it provided.

After a moment, he shook his head, finally glancing over to her. It probably showed on his face, but he didn't really care one way or another at that moment. She knew some of his history, and that was, perhaps, reason enough to let her see him at one of his worse moments. He had faith it would probably get worse from there, too.

"What about you? Just waking up early and coming out for some fresh air, or are you trying to get as far away from everything as possible?"

"Just past five if I'm right." There was that particular smell of early morning that helped her already fantastic sense of time. She couldn't solidly keep track of anything further then four weeks past, but she was a wiz on the 24 hour table.

He wore the same weariness that mirrored everyone's in general and she saw it well. Devi was waiting for someone to finally crack under the pressure, still convinced that their imprisonment would lead to madness for someone. Certainly not her, but she wasn't sure if the Wizard would stay on the list of potentials or not.

Devi's natural paleness was made worse by the morning light and the pallor of exhaustion unfortunately contrasted against the bruise colored tinge under her eyes. This was a woman who relished her sleep, when it wasn't riddled with dreams of her doing something else, somewhere else. They felt like memories and she had no energy to scour them.

"Definitely the latter. My bed hates me and this is the best substitute for my roof. And they deliver." She stared into her teacup for a second before taking a sip.

Draco barely suppressed a yawn at the reminder that he typically wasn't up for another four or five hours. That was probably the worst of it all: he could deal without eating as long as he could sleep somewhat, but without any draughts to help him drift away without nightmares, he was practically doomed that way.

In other words, he actually ought to be on the short list of those most likely to lose their minds.

The pair of them looked like hell, but at least Draco had the manners not to mention it. She probably wouldn't have minded, but it was something of a point of pride for him to know when to keep his mouth shut and not mention when a lady looked terrible.

"Your bed actually hates you?" He asked, making a weak attempt at humour, following it up with a half-assed chuckle. "You might be grating at times, but I hardly think it hates you." His eyes slid to her teacup, and he thought about how tea solved all problems. If you could keep it down, at least.

Devi wouldn't have minded outwardly, but there was something to be said for manners and she appreciated that he didn't mention it. She was well aware of how she looked but there was no help for it and she excused herself from the idea that she be anything other then what she was. To tired to bother hiding her amusement or her surprise, she scoffed out a small laugh that grew into a full one. "Well, thank you for your honesty. And yes, I'm convinced of it. The dreams I got before were a lot better. My kingdom for a good two hours, man."

She rubbed her face and sighed softly, turning herself around to unfold her legs onto the proper side of the barrier. Her bed didn't used to be that large or daunting and she'd taken to sleeping on a makeshift cot on the floor against the wall, not that she'd say either out loud.

"If I sit here any longer, either my legs will freeze or I'll doze right off the edge."

There was a time and place to mention this sort of thing, and it wasn't when he probably rivalled her looks, thus giving her ample opportunity to point it out in return. "You're welcome," he replied, come," he replied, cracking a faint smile at her laughter. It was certainly better than both of them practically moping around due to exhaustion. "Two hours would certainly be better than nothing. What I wouldn't give to just sleep for a day, though-"

Draco sniffed, pushing his hand through his hair to try and keep it out of his face; it didn't work very well, but he let it be. "I'll not be able to catch you, so I recommend you get up. Care for a walk? Maybe it'll keep us awake better than just sitting here."

Smart man, because she would have. They both looked like crap, nearly everyone did nowadays, in one form or another. "Two hours and I could feel like a human being," she said wistfully, unwilling to let the blissful thought of hiding away under her covers for a whole day taunt her.

"Yeah, that'd be nice." She pushed off the railing and rolled her neck, a few quiet pops coming from it. Devi leisurely headed towards the door, pausing until Draco fell in stride with her. She takes another sip of her quickly cooling tea before speaking again. "This sucks. I feel like we're rats in a lab or something. One of the Nysgods is going to pop out of a wall or something and tell us that we've all done very well on our tests, take a piece of cheese."

He couldn't help but crack a smile at that. If only it were so easy to feel like a human being again; Draco was sure that even after holing away for a day, he still wouldn't feel like anything more than a blob with limbs.

He fell into step with her quickly enough, needing only a moment or two to do so. "I don't know if it is them. I don't know what else it could possibly be, but what reason do they have to test us?" He asked with a barely concealed sneer. "No, this has to be something more than just them fucking with us."

Insomnia and broken sleep schedules randomly imposed themselves upon Devi and she had learned how to cope. No one ever slept well during war. Two hours would give her a better overall functionality. She glanced over at him at the tone, one eyebrow rising slightly as he cursed.

"Durability, for one. If they mean to send us into a fight, maybe they mean for the strongest of us to be the ones left to put out," she offered. There was a wriggle in the back of her mind, a wisp of an idea that hadn't quite latched yet about who it was. "And if it's not them, why can't they, with all of their craptastic tech, tell us what's going on? You'd think they'd work harder considering what happened."

He was almost jealous, in a way. He'd never adapted to deal with the lack of sleep. Food, sure - he didn't need that. But sleep was how he kept himself sane.

"But if they're sending us into a fight, then why the hell would they torture us first? Are they hoping we're going to suddenly- Suddenly believe them our saviours, or some rot? Like all of their maltreatment of us will be considered justified, and we'll gladly fight on their side?" He scoffed, the sound angry. "It's bollocks. It's torture.

"Maybe they're incapable. Maybe they have no idea what's going on, and they just want us to think it's them because it's easier. Because then we'd assume it was just another exam, like you suggested, instead of something so much worse."

Devi ate like a bird in times of stress, her appetite saving for peace or after a fight. She quietly listened, taking in his frustration, considering his words.

"Because those who survive it and still function will either be tempered steel or nearly worthless. Maybe it's just for experiment, maybe they just don't care. Maybe you're right." She didn't know anymore and rode the wave of the moment until a clear goal was pointed out. What else was there to do?

"I wish we knew how much longer this was going to last."

Behind the pair, from the balcony they had just left, a dense fog started slowly rolling into the halls.

Edited 2013-10-15 19:06 (UTC)

The longer he spoke, the more his hands shook, he noticed. By the end of it - by the time she was replying - they trembled like fall leaves ready to tumble from a tree. It was sort of fascinating. He wondered, a little, if he wasn't burning more calories he still didn't have.

"If it goes on much longer, I very well might test out exactly how far a drop it is from those balconies," he murmured simply, shaking his head before stretching out his hands like that might prevent the shaking.

"We should look into it. Somehow," Draco finally suggested, glancing over to her.

"You'd very well better not," Devi chided. If he did and she was anywhere nearby, she'd catch him and tear him a new one all the way back up to solid ground. She opened her mouth to ask how, but something stopped her and her mouth shut again as she came to an abrupt stop.

As though Draco's words were a catalyst, the faint rolling sound of an air raid siren cut through the air. It got louder until it was no longer faint, never quite reaching a level hurt ears except at the crescendo. The fog had crawled up on them, slowly enveloping the area.

Devi's fingers white knuckled around the handle of her cup as she turned around to look behind them. What little color she had, left. "Something's coming." She didn't know if it was a big something or not, but it was something and it send an shaft of cold through her stomach.

Edited (html fix) 2013-10-15 20:45 (UTC)

It was interesting to hear someone give a damn about his lightly made comment about suicide. Pansy and Blaise had always just put them off as little more than melodramatic stirrings, and tended to ignore him. It was no wonder at all he was as desperate for attention as he was. Though perhaps they had started ignoring him because he was desperate for attention.

The siren cut through his thoughts and any reply he might have made like a knife through warm butter. Gone was his concentration - what little he had. Draco frowned immediately, wincing and shrinking down slightly into his cardigan as it sounded off, warning them of Merlin-knew-what; when his eyes dropped down to the ground, he spied the way the fog crept up on them. It couldn't possibly bode well; fog never did.

"Such an understatement," he murmured, barely even managing to put his usual snark into the remark as he glanced behind them as well, twisting to watch the way the thick fog obscured the corridor from view. "That wasn't there before, was it?"

Considering the stresses that were being placed on them all, it wasn't the time to be making those kinds of comments without intent. Were he better, were any of them better, it might have been received differently. But suicide struck a sharp nerve with her in these kinds of situations when survival is at the forefront of thought.

Devi didn't bother to retort; if she had it would have been cold and insulting. For all the credit she gave Draco's magic, the truth of it was she hadn't seen how effective it was and the Wizard was classified as below her on the fight scale. The remark wasn't worth her attention.

With a half turning step back, Devi looks down the way they were heading. If they ran, she could make it to her room within two minutes. Maybe three. After a long moment, Devi finally looks back at Draco. The casual ease she found herself in around him hadn't changed, but there was no trace of the easy going manner or openness in her eyes. When she spoke, rough quietly spoken exhaustion had given way to an apathetic no-nonsense edge. She'd changed hats.

"I don't suppose you're a close quarters combat kinda guy, are you?" The walls of the hall begin to blacken and curl, each edge of the forming cracks popping up with a sickening snap. Pieces curls off the wall and ashed into nothingness, leaving behind steel rebar covered in rusted grating. Devi drained her cup and looked inside it. "Better question is, what do you do better? Run or Fight?"

Edited 2013-10-18 00:03 (UTC)

Draco had never been that good about survival, truth be told. He gave it a good go, but most of the time, it seemed nothing more than dumb luck that kept him going. His magic was quite effective; however, he tried not to get himself so backed into a corner that he had to use it.

He met her eyes, his own gaze rather stony. He was ready, even if he didn't want to have to be. "Not typically. Mid-range, if anything." He withdrew his wand, giving it a turn between his fingers; if need be, he could throw a few curses. It was easier when he had some sort of target, though. Fog wasn't much of an opponent.

"I'm far better at running," he admitted, turning his attention back to the approaching fog; he hastily drew his arm across, casting a charm with a wide berth and a shimmering glaze - a Shield Charm that might hold it back a little bit longer. It wouldn't creep up with quite the same intensity as it did before. "But I can fight in a pinch."

"That's fine, less work for me." she said, watching with interest as he casts his charm. The fog piled against the barrier in protest as something at the far end of the hall came into sight. It was humanoid but too far away for them to make anything out but it's halting lopsided gait. Draco being a mid-range also worked out quite well, because while Devi could do mid and long range attacks, they took varying amounts of time. His magic was more accessible, leaving her free to move around in close range. She eyeballs the creature at the end of the hall.

There was no shame in running, Devi took to her feet often enough as it was. A challenge was one thing, but a game being played with her is another. Without an inkling to the end game of whatever was doing this, Devi wasn't inclined to power through an endless horde and get to the big show. In addition and like it or not, she had to think of Draco. Not that she wasn't burning with curiosity to see what he looked like in a fight.

"Alright. I've got to get something from my room. It'll be a few minutes away if we book it. How long will that thing hold?"

He eyed the creature as well, just wrapping up his charm, effectively binding it to the walls and ceiling and floor like a net with just a bit more concentration, and stepped back a little, glancing to her. Eyebrows arched, it was clear that Draco wanted to know when they would be running. That thing ahead of them was coming closer by the second; he didn't want to waste any more time than they had to.

"A few minutes," Draco drawled simply. "If we're lucky, at least. So I suggest you run now; I'll be right behind you."

The running was now, or more specifically at his suggestion. With a half nod and the empty tea cup still dangling from one finger, Devi turns and runs down the corridor. The fog had already made it a different way around his barrier, filling the hall. The fog didn't worry her; it was what came with it.

She glances back over her shoulder, to double check that Draco is indeed behind her before turning down the hall that held her room.

The fog might not have worried her, but in Draco's world, nothing good could come of that sort of fog. He wanted nothing to do it, and was quite happy - as happy as one could be in this situation, at least - to run tail and run as fast as he could. He was glad now that he'd gone running with Sulu every now and then; apparently it was just enough to keep him in shape for something like this.

Maybe he wasn't the fastest any more, but that was largely the exhaustion setting in. Still, pure terror drove him on, and when Devi looked back at him, he simply grunted out an unhappy "Go!" before pushing himself harder so he caught up to her.

Devi slid into the mouth of the new hall and easily got back up to speed, ears marking how far behind Draco was. Her ring/key to her room was hastily withdrawn from under her sweater and dragged over her head. After it's slipped on, Devi wraps the chain around her knuckles.

She came upon her door quickly enough, knob unlocked and flung open as she catches the shape of a figure meandering towards them from the end of the hall from the corner of her eye. "Damnit." A glance is given to Draco, to make sure he saw which door (not that he could miss it) before stepping in.

Most of the furniture was on one side of the room, leaving the floor clear... With exception to the squeaky ducks that were glued to the floor on one half of the made and untouched bed. The east wall was a mural of a tree on a hill in it's four stages of season, with a pillow and a blanket in the courner. The ceiling was painted and covered in stars, Devi had made herself a cosmos to look at. As for her, she was in her closet, pulling down her trench coat and hastily casting off her sweater to swoop the leather onto her shoulders. There. She could fight now and not feel totally weird about it.

He wasn't too far behind her, thankfully; it didn't take much for him to push himself to take a few longer steps, and though he was panting softly, he managed to grab the edge of the doorjamb and fling himself into the room, shutting the door quickly behind him. It took him another second to catch his breath, centring himself to the point that he registered that figure as well.

Draco leaned heavily against the door as it sank in that they might very well be trapped. Finally, his eyes began to skim around the room, taking it in: he was constantly amazed when he saw people's rooms; his was pristine and almost unlived in. Or it would have been, if it weren't for Kurt redecorating every now and then back when people cared about all of that.

"I think we're fucked."

She was stepping out as he flung himself in and she looked him over. Exhaustion took a very big toll and seeing the wear on him forced her to evaluate the strain on herself. How far would she really be able to push it before succumbing to the human condition? Devi's well of power was far from endless, though it was vastly deep. It took a lot to wear her out... The Temple had managed that.

She gives a sigh as she looks at her boots then her wall. "So we can sit here until someone else figures it out. Hunker down. Or. We fight our way to the common room in the hopes of finding someone who knows what the fuck is going on."

He was slumping, his posture a far cry from what it usually was; he didn't even seem to be making an attempt at looking decent anymore, which was saying something for his state of mind. Normally he at least made a bit of an effort, if for no other reason than the fact that looking good distracted from how crap he felt inside. It was half a wonder he was even still standing, and his knees seemed to agree, threatening to give out as he leaned against the door.

"Do you have food in here? Water? Other various supplies we may need to live?" He asked sceptically, a hint of resignation to his voice. "I don't think anyone knows what's going on. But at least the common room has food." He paused, frowning. "But it's also wide open. If we get trapped there, it's almost worse. At least this room locks."

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