paying the price

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." The night was a blur of swaying lights. Electrical lights and strange luminescent plants traded place with pale stars, and turned i to the comforting orange glow of firelight. Maea floated, drifting on currents in a semi conscious state, carried by someone when her own legs failed to support her weight. Breathing was painful, a process of careful sips and enduring the need to draw breath, lest greed enduced another fit of coughs. Time was impossible to keep track of, slippery as a mud-coated Magna, and nothing of what went on around her made sense. She barely noticed when the cool night air was changed into the soothing calm of the infirmary, where the scent of herbs and clean linen whispered promises of help and comfort... and she needed both right now. Her body had never been strong, and now that it was ravaged by poison, the flame of her candle burned hot and fast, threatening to bring her closer to Ludo than she had planned on this early in life. A sinking sensation, and cool sheets rose up to support her back. Around her there was a connection of others being brought inside, but though her thoughts lingered in the darkness beneath the Spire, om Roana and Lucas, and Jigano, Amalia and Rory who had gone down after them... though she wanted to ask if they were alright, Maea couldn't speak. She was dying. Slowly, but surely.

Vai was far too pregnant for this. But then the Spire waited for no man, as Outlander and Natural both had proven tonight. The witch had been sleeping (not comfortably, of course) out in her cabin in the woods when the calls had begun to come through. She had gotten to the infirmary as quickly as she was able, and had just about managed to rally about the night shift nurses when the first of the patients was brought in. And Maea was not in a state to be tended to by simple first aid, that much was obvious. "What the fuck happened," Vai half whispered as the albino girl was set upon one of the cots. Drawing on her strength and having to temper herself against giving too much, her fingertips were already aglow with a soft warmth as she settled herself in a seat at Maea's beside. "It's alright," she soothed, fingers gently resting against the other woman's temples so her magic could get to work. "You're safe now." For now. vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Something was going on at the Spire. Emmett had been going back and forth since he'd joined in with Rory's cause, wishing he could stay but needing to care for the farm and his siblings. The Spire needed protecting, yes, but he couldn't put his life on hold. But on this night, when there was such a great noise and rumbling across the land...he couldn't not go and see.

Chris and Milly left in the hands of a neighbour who wanted none of this business with the Spire and Outlanders, thank you very much, he ran down to the Spire. When he got there it was chaos, people yelling all kinds of different things about people gone in, about deaths and injuries and--

Through it all, he suddenly saw Maea's strikingly pale figure collapse by the door of the Spire. For the moment an anger and confusion rose in him. Why had she gone in there? He'd thought they were of a similar kind of thought, that she was smart enough to not try this, but...she was hurt, and he had to help. Could ask questions later.

Easily he knelt to take her in his arms, muscles long trained by farm work cradling the woman as he ran to the infirmary, barely even considering the route as his focus was on the frail body in his arms. "It'll be alright, Maea." He kept saying, partly to convince himself.

Finally he got her to the infirmary, could lay her down on the bed and share the responsibility with someone else. "I dunno what happened. She jus'...she came outta the Spire."

Emmett

There'll be no value in the strength of walls that I have grown
There'll be no comfort in the shade of the shadows thrown
But I'd be yours if you'd be mine

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." Was she imagining the voices, the drum of hurried footsteps around her? No; she recognized them. Vai's startled curses, Emmett's bewildered reply, and Maea wanted to soothe them, reassure that the was alright, would be just fine... Her attempt to sit up and speak was cut short by a nasty rattle through the chest however, and even as she doubled up against the pain and the spasms she felt the healer woman's hands around her head, voice soothing. Like Rory's had been, when he caught her. Like Jigano's, despite the tension that had plagued it. Were they alright? What of Roana, and Lucas, and those who had gone upstairs? Sam? Warmth suddenly blossomed against her skin, spreading from Vervain's hands. Like warm water it seeped through all of her body, fighting the poison that ate away at her insides and began to mend the damage that vad been done. The albino girl stilled under the touch, relaxed and drew for breath; some of the blueness faded from her lips, but though her eyes were open she did not appear to be entirely there.

"Poison," Vai murmured, as though able to glean as much from the healing she was giving to the albino woman. When her eyes opened at last she seemed tired - whatever it was that had been eating away at Maea's body, it did not want to leave quietly. Indeed, it had taken a good chunk of her energy to banish the unwelcome guest, the witch sinking back into her seat to glance at Emmett as he explained about the Spire. "So it really is open," she said in half a whisper, forcing herself to sit up a little and glance over Maea with keen eyes; already a couple of the nurses were coming in, absently wiping at the injured woman's face and arms and hands, as if to get rid of any irritant still there. "Sorry, Emmett - I didn't even ask. Are you okay?" vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Emmett, after he said his piece, had gone back to quietly watching Maea, looking but not really seeing. Really he was trapped in his mind, thinking please not another one -- Vervain's question made him jump at the sound of his name.

"I uh...I'm fine, yeah." If Vervain was observant she would notice a slight sway in his step, a smell of alcohol on his breath...but physically he was not injured. He had been nowhere near the Spire when it had all happened after all, far too wrapped up in his own personal chaos to begin to interact with the swirling never-ending complexities of the current happenings. For a while it had been a solace from his own life, but now it was just a distraction.

"...Is..is Maea gonna be okay? D'ya need anythin'? I can go get it. Anythin'." Desperation clear in his eyes, he leaned forward with an intensity he hadn't found in himself very often.

Emmett

There'll be no value in the strength of walls that I have grown
There'll be no comfort in the shade of the shadows thrown
But I'd be yours if you'd be mine

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." The cool touch of damp cloth against her irritated skin was painful but soothing, and she let it happen without resisting. She was too weak to even be embarrassed as she was stripped out of her bloodsoaked leathers and dressed in a clean nightgown. Once the ministrations were över with, Maea sank down into the bed with a sigh, closing eyes against the world that spun in dizzying circles around her. Breathing... still hurt a bit, but it was easier now. Plenty of damage har been dealt to both lungs and airways but thanks to Vai it would be a matter days to recover fully now, rather than the weeks or months the might otherwise have needed. If she would have lasted through the first night. Voices conversing quietly nearby told her that Vervain and Emmett were still there. "Whhhaaa... whhhat hhappened to... thhe others?" Her voice was a terrible whisper, hoarse and broken; speaking hurt, and her mouth was a dry wasteland full with the taste of blood and pus... But she had to know.

"Emmett... sit down, okay?" Vai frowned as she looked him over; had her concentration not been so ramped up because of the situation she might not have noticed the unsteadiness about him, but in the small treatment room it was difficult not to. "She's going to be okay if I have anything to say about it," she assured him, glancing around to the albino woman as she managed to make out a few words. The nurses were already bustling around to get some cool water for her to drink - and a bowl, in case she needed to swill her mouth out - and Vai shifted from where she was sitting to offer her place to Emmett. "Others?" she asked softly, looking concerned and directing her gaze to him. "There weren't any others with you, right?" vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

"Oh..uh...okay." It wasn't quite the action he'd wanted to leap into, but it was hard to say no to taking a seat when his legs were quite so wobbly. Emmett stumbled back into the seat, feeling some guilt for pushing a pregnant woman from her chair but figuring she was going to need to work, sat back and tried to breathe slowly, regulate the woozyness in his head.

He sat up when Maea spoke but only shook his head and shrugged at Vervain. "I...I dunno. I didn' go into the Spire, and there's a lotta stuff going on back there. I..dunno who was with her and who wasn'. Maea, who were you with?"

Emmett

There'll be no value in the strength of walls that I have grown
There'll be no comfort in the shade of the shadows thrown
But I'd be yours if you'd be mine

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." She drank the water gratefully, doing what she could to rid herself of the taste of combat and illness... but it lingered like a ghost åt the back of her throat, coiled up amidst memories like a black snake, ready to strike at any time. "There were" she contradicted Vai, speaking easier now but still in a hoarse whisper. "Roana and Lucas, Rory, Jigano... Amalia. Sam and... and others I didn't recognize. I saw.. some of them came out again but.." Trying to remember was a struggle. Her mind har been hazy, full of toxic smog and lack of air, addled by pain and shock. If no one else har come here then they would all still be back there, back by the Spire. Why? What were they doing, lingering behind? "It all went wrong. Should never have gone..."

Glad for Emmett to take her seat - he looked more than a little worse for wear right now anyway - Vai circled around so she could check on Maea again now that she had been able to drink a little, and speak more coherently. Worry clouded her features as the other woman explained, the witch glancing with concern over her shoulder to the nurses. "Grab some supplies and head to the Spire - they may be hurt and unable to get here," she said quickly, before glancing back to Maea. "Don't think that way just yet, Maea. You need to rest - there's time for regrets later. I'll make sure that we get aid to those at the Spire, and bring them back here if they need it. But you ought to sleep, and regain your strength." vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe

Maea insisted that there were others, but most of the names meant nothing to Emmett. Probably Outlanders he didn't know, he reasoned. Just the kinds of people he'd been so passionate about stopping from getting to the Spire just days ago..but now, it appeared his angst had just been a spurt of anger from his breakdown, because the only emotion he could summon was a crushing apathetic defeat which made him lower his head to his hands.

"I don' think it went wrong." He mumbled, shaking his head. Emmett wasn't sure what the rumbles had meant, what the strange feeling of something going on in his veins came to, but... "Somethin's happened. I can just tell."

Emmett

There'll be no value in the strength of walls that I have grown
There'll be no comfort in the shade of the shadows thrown
But I'd be yours if you'd be mine

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." Vai's assurance and orders to the nurses gave her some comfort, but while Maea was exhausted and still only concious by the strength of get will, she didn't want to sleep. How could she, when others might still be inside the Spire? But she did stay in the bed and pulled the blankets over herself, missing the scarf that someone had taken away to clean... She wanted it now, because the night was cold and something inside her was shivering. She turned to Emmett at his mumbled statement, and nodded. Something... but she didn't have the kind of sixth sense that might predict a disaster while it happened, couldn't scry in her water to see what went on at the hop of a black Tower even as they spoke. She believed him but only because it made more sense than to think they had all failed and been forced to retreat. "Emmett... Thank you" she murmured. "For bringing me here..." It had no doubt saved her life. Yet the boy looked as forlorn as if the world har already ended... and in a way, Maea knew it had. For him, for her... they just had different ways of coping with the aftermath. He lay down in the ashes to revel in what he'd lost, and she planted roses while pretending the burns didn't hurt... and it was hard to tell which way was more destructive.

It was all thoroughly confusing and things were getting more muddled instead of clearer - so whilst the other medics gathered their supplies and hurried off towards the Spire, Vervain busied herself ensuring everything Maea might need was to hand. As she spoke the witch smiled weakly, stepping up beside her bed and nodding to Emmett. "You saved a life tonight, I think," she murmured to him. "But for now I think it might be best to leave Maea to rest. She's a fighter, but speaking might irritate her throat more. Sit with her as long as you like, though. And if you'd like to stay through the night, you're more than welcome." Nodding to the two of them, Vai moved to the door. "If you need me, just come find me," she murmured, before stepping away. (Vai exits.) vervain well i'll rest my eyes and i'll let the earth breathe