[se] we were born sick

Amalia

On the way to the waterfall Amalia makes a detour into Soulfire Reach, flying up among the crystals to collect a few more vibrant ones. Icy blue and vibrant red: these are the colors she emphasizes, bringing them down and smiling shyly at Falke as they make their way onward.

The waterfall is truly magnificent. Amalia cannot say she has seen anything like it before, and now she stands in quiet awe, gazing upon it with breath baited. "There was something like this under the Grounds," she remarks softly, her voice barely carrying over the pounding torrent. "A library of Safrin, with a hidden area behind a waterfall."

It is this that leads her to assume that their quarry is in fact behind the falls. Amalia leads the way, picking a path up the stones and into the cavern beyond. She's almost soaked by the time they reach it, but their success is obvious. An archway with ten gaps gleams before them, three lilies already placed within.

And now, four.

After settling the lily in, Amalia kneels down. Delicately she arranges the stones she's gathered into the shape of a bird with cool blue eyes, pressing them firmly into a soft area of the earth to make a mural of crystal and color. "She is with you now, Tanau," the girl murmurs, closing her eyes as tears press against them. "Please- repay her sacrifice and save us all."

Falke

pull up a seat right next to men and

pull out a pen, write down your memory

The Fixer waits patiently for Amalia to retrieve whatever it is she wants down the other tunnel, taking the time to make his own observations and draw the lily from memory, diagrams and notes about specifics filling the pages of his notebook until she returns. His fingers are ink-stained as he puts the book away, sweat and smudges marring the words, but he will copy them over to something more official as soon as he returns to the Tower.

As for something called Safrin’s Library, he finds himself raising his eyebrows. There’s a hint of familiarity about the location, as if he’d read about it a long time ago and forgot to write it down. Something to ask Finn about, maybe, but until then - “I’d very much like to see that one day.” And he’ll leave it at that.

He follows the demigoddess with ease (for perhaps the first time in twenty years), trying to take it all in - a thing he seems to be doing very much these days. The roar of the waterfall almost drowns his thoughts out as he crosses under, very glad that his pack is waterproof (and that’s not the first time he’s thought that during this excursion). While Amalia places the flower in the ‘next’ spot, Falke turns to inspect the arch as a whole; stepping up to touch the marble and the flowers, then as far back as he can to see as much as he can, no spot goes uninspected while the girl does what she needs to do.

If he hears her sorrow, he doesn’t make any mention of it; as inquisitive as he may be, Falke is also quite polite. She is not his patient. He won’t pry unless she wants to talk.

{Fin}

how many of us

are on the cusp on the verge?