[SE] And it feels so real

will heaven step in?

Their searching brought them towards the Estuary. The sun was falling low, the warm orange light filtering through the trees indicating what Noah would assume to be a beautiful sunset. The shadows grew longer and he partially shifted his eyes to be able to see better in the undergrowth, never letting himself take his eyes off the sides of their path for long.

But as Noah listened to Alys describe her visions, the demigod felt his blood start to run cold.

Noah’s breath caught. He stood still a moment, gaze fixed not on Alys but on the empty space past her shoulder, trying to piece sense from the fragments she’d shared. From Deimos, Noah knew their next endeavor was going to be wet, but he wasn't sure how much underwater they would be. The creature she described, even in only brief flashes, made him believe they would be in deep, deep waters.

He shifted, unease rolling through him like distant thunder, letting hsi breath out as he started walking again. A creature that large—one marked in violet, veiled in darkness—void-touched and dangerous, made the hair on the back of his neck rise. “Could you feel anything? Heat? Cold? A presence?” he pressed, scanning her expression with quick flicks of his glacier eyes. He knew Alys couldn't feel creatures over the attuned bond, but there had to be something.

Noah rubbed his jaw, the stubble rasping under his fingers. “How big?” He didn’t like the shape of what this might be. Something old. Something waiting beneath the earth, cloaked in echoes and lightning. Something as big as Remi.

will it save us from our sin?

Alys

this night is alive with the smell of insane —

As grateful as Alys was to be receiving these visions - to be given any clue as to what might be going on, even if she didn’t fully understand - she hated the fear and unease that they created in her friends. She understood, of course. Her visions were powerful things, offering insight into an island that had given them all grief for far too long. But that didn’t mean she had to like it.

She wondered if she would ever see something happy in her dreams. Something hopeful.

”I got the sense that I was in a vast cavern. There was… water. Dripping, I think.” she drummed her fingers on her thigh. ”The creature… it was enormous. And it had many, many tentacles.” It wasn’t much to go on, she knew - but it was something. It had to be worth sharing. ”I know it’s not a lot, and I wish I’d seen more.” Even the smallest clue could be worth something.

— it's reaching for me and it's calling my name

will heaven step in?

Noah nodded once, but didn’t speak. His gaze drifted past Alys, settling somewhere deep in the trees, where the light didn’t reach and the silence pressed in thick.

A vast cavern. Water dripping. Enormous. Tentacled.

He turned the words over like stones in his hand, feeling their weight, their edges. He'd seen void creatures, but this felt different—older, heavier. Something that rivaled the enormity of Remi.

His stomach tightened. The image of it lingered behind his eyes: vast limbs coiled in darkness, the slow drip of water echoing like a countdown.

Noah exhaled through his nose. They would need to find it before it woke fully. And they would have to face it and the wyrm. ”Thank you, Alys. That’s helpful. I’m…sorry that you have to see it.” but at least she didn’t have to be there to fight it.

will it save us from our sin?

Alys

this night is alive with the smell of insane —

Alys watched as Noah turned her words over in his mind, feeling the urge to fidget under his scrutiny. She could feel his emotions racing almost faster than she could keep up - but she felt the undercurrent of gratitude, and that was enough to calm her. ”It’s… unsettling. But if seeing these things is all I can do, then I will do it gladly.” And pass it along to those who could use it.

The seer turned her attention back to the search for roses, hoping that she hadn’t missed one in her explanations. ”So,” she said, after the weight of her visions was past. ”What do we do, if we find a rose? I’m not the only one who needs one.” And she wouldn’t deny Noah, if he had more pressing needs than hers, though she selfishly hoped to take any rise they found for herself.

— it's reaching for me and it's calling my name

will heaven step in?

The demigod's eyes swept across the undergrowth, taking in the vibrant greens and blues and specks of various shades of purple and yellow and pink that meant the height of the season. Flowers spanned, reached, touched--but so far, none of them roses.

"Oh, I thought you were going to make a perfume frrom it..." Noah said, chin dropping some as the sly and boyish smile broke out over his face and he looked at Alys through fallen tendrils of dirty blond hair.

If he could diffuse the tension at least a little bit, he needed to. Alys was holding so much and it hurt Noah to see it. He didn't want her to panic, spiral, or carve herself inward as they searched for roses. There was hope, Noah knew, and he just had to bring Alys to it.

will it save us from our sin?

Alys

this night is alive with the smell of insane —

Flowers were abundant amongst the verdant green of the forest, but none of them were what she searched for so futilely. She saw no thorns of gold, nor petals of crimson, no matter how hard she looked. Her mood was rapidly declining, and perhaps that was why it took a moment for Noah's joke to register. When it did, the seer looked up, rolling her eyes good-naturedly, and aimed a friendly punch for the demigod's shoulder.

"Oh, I thought I'd make it into a paperweight, actually," she said. "You know, encase it in some resin. Leave it on the bookshelf or something." Noah's playful attempt at lightening the mood had done the trick - and Alys would be forever grateful for his company as she worked to find the thing that would save her partner.

— it's reaching for me and it's calling my name

will heaven step in?

Noah grinned at the punch, letting it land without flinching. Her answer tugged a soft huff of laughter from him, the kind that folded easily into the hush of the woods and made his smile wrinkle the edges of his eyes. He watched her closely, though, noting the way her shoulders had eased just slightly, how the edge in her voice had dulled. That was enough for now.

He pushed his hair back from his eyes and turned slowly, scanning the woods once more. The sunlight poured in golden shafts through the canopy, catching on leaves and petals alike—but still, no sign of crimson or gold.

“Let’s keep trying,” he said quietly, nodding toward the slope where the trees thinned out and the ground dipped into cooler, damper earth. “More shade down there. Might be what they like.”

Noah didn’t wait for her agreement—he knew she’d follow. She had something worth fighting for. He just had to help her carry the weight of it, step by step.

Hope, after all, was why they were here.

FIN

will it save us from our sin?