according to visions

Alys

So it seemed that quests for healing waters were similar across regions - unsurprising, given the proclivity of Caido towards danger. Alys was certain that the lazy river would prove useful in future, because if nothing else was certain in this life, it was that Caido would never remain entirely peaceful for long. There was always something to come - whether an external force like the Family, or some mutated beast entirely from within their world - and King's End was rapidly growing towards readiness for such things.

So Alys hummed in agreement, gaze flickering with amusement towards Idalia, whose tiny fists were suddenly engulfed in scarred, calloused fingers. "I haven't, but I've heard that things have been busy there." She didn't know Colt well, save from seeing her here and there around King's End, but she wished the woman well in her ventures. Alys knew from experience what it felt like to long for something different, and though she couldn't quite grasp the rancher's drive in this regard, she couldn't begin to imagine the pain of losing everything one loved in a fire. Maybe, if such a thing happened to her, she'd run off to the desert, too.

gather 'round, here's how to get what you want
introduce a new religion of feeling like a boss

DEIMOS

ache first, but then let the cuts close
spit out the blood

Deimos couldn’t ever contemplate running off into the desert to ward away his problems, but given that he’d done so to an icy world instead, perhaps the notions weren’t too dissimilar. Not granting that voice, he instead tended to Idalia’s squeaks and murmurs, snorting when she clenched her fists inside of his grasp. “She told me there was a monster there,” unsurprising, given the way Caido operated, but either a hint of impending connections or another mere coincidence of the conflagration beginning to build from cinders, coal, and embers. “I have not seen this one before.”

He unfurled a bit of his incantations in front of them, water magic weaving solitary droplets into conformed images of a beast with too many eyes descending upon the sand – rendering it just as Colt had sketched and sent to him. “Just in case you are in the area,” and his lips quirked into a slight smile while his daughter looked on, eyes widening as the picture refracted and altered, making the massive creature appear as if it were moving.

watch your body pull itself back together
then let your soul do the same

Alys

The creature that took form in water droplets and rivulets was jarring - reminiscent of her visions of the Family, in some ways, with all those eyes. The thought made the seer shudder, a frown crossing her face in spite of the baby’s happy coos and gurgles. ”The eyes -“ she started, then paused. ”Are we sure the Family is really gone?” she asked after a moment, glancing nervously at their surroundings, as though someone (looking at you, Vox) or something might be watching them even now.

Shaking herself, Alys fought to recover some semblance of calm. There was no need to panic. Strange creatures appeared in Caido all the time. So she took a deep breath, fixed her gaze momentarily on Idalia, and forced tranquility over her features once more. ”Thank you for the warning,” she said. Perhaps she would avoid Hak Etme for the time being, just to be safe.

gather 'round, here's how to get what you want
introduce a new religion of feeling like a boss

DEIMOS

ache first, but then let the cuts close
spit out the blood

Idalia, born after the Family’s disassembling, had no druthers nor connection to the image. She’d arrived during peace and repose, where fear hadn’t been the backdrop of movement and motions for some time. But watching Alys’s reaction, he dimmed the droplets immediately, pooling them back into the confines of his incantations. The question didn’t surprise or bewilder him. Instead, he sighed, because he’d been there for the disappearance and the aftermath, enduring the multitudes from start to finish. “We saw them go, and Sunjata and I went down into Starfall soon after. There was nothing left.” Picked apart and ravaged; taken whatever they could before dispersing.

He nearly suggested she could see for herself, but let the statement fade off in his mind. “I think this is something new,” instead – with no manner of information and evidence pointing to the former parasites, but the stirrings of other potentials and granules; of sand and dreams and slumber that came too quick. Nodding thereafter, he sighed, a glance lingering across the trees, where naught stirred by the traces of birds and swaying canopies caught in breezes. “It will probably take some time to parse through, but for now, we look for what we can.”

watch your body pull itself back together
then let your soul do the same