Albert Silverberg (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
chikaidestroyer) wrote2014-09-18 08:32 pm
chikaidestroyer) wrote2014-09-18 08:32 pm
∞ 106: Echoes in their absence
September 16
[While he had heard of the people -- echoes of people -- appearing around the village, Albert did not happen to see one right away. It's as he's taking a break outside of Celsius Tear that he takes notice of a teenage girl standing in front of the mural by the Welcome Center. He descends the stairs to watch her.
That had been ... almost three years ago now, he recalled as he watched the girl cheerfully set down a bucket of yellow paint. Without paying him any attention or seeing the completed mural in front of her, the girl dipped a paintbrush into the bucket and began making sweeping motions across the mural. Pao-Lin, he finally recalls as she bends over to dip her paintbrush again.
He watches for a while, eventually looking over his shoulder at the other mural that surrounded the fountain. That had been another of her projects with volunteers, done a year later.
He can't help but think about that saying as he watches her paint -- that art only found its value after its artist was gone.]
-----
September 17
[The fountain plaza proves to be a good spot to see the 'echoes,' and Albert decides to take his breaks outside to observe despite the weather looking increasingly storm-like. Sometimes the person he sees is only a flicker of movement, walking around the fountain or sitting on its edge, eating lunch. Once or twice he even sees a person seated or running across a rooftop, leaving him pondering what could have been happening at that time to lead to that behavior.
It's foolish to hope that he'll see a familiar face, he knows. But he still watches.]
-----
September 18, early afternoon
[It seems oddly fitting that he sees echoes of Nami and Yuber on the day of the thunderstorm. Nami, back before she had begun to grow weary of having such awful luck with picking fights with the wrong people. Back before she had been a threat.
...This must have been when Nami declared she would arrest Yuber, going by her uncharacteristic uniform, untouched by the falling rain. He certainly remembered that.]
[Albert can be found in Celsius Tear in the mornings or around the fountain plaza and its stores in the afternoons.]
-----
September 19, evening
Content warning: limb loss
[It happens when he is returning to the hot springs teleporter from visiting his giant owl. The headache comes out of nowhere, like a wave crashing over him, and he drops his journal from where he had been loosely holding it against his side. Shaking his head to clear the disorientation, Albert concentrates enough on Tsinku enough to summon a sphere of contained electricity to light the ground. Upon spotting his journal, he crouches to pick it up.
That's when he notices that there is nothing at the end of his shirt sleeve -- at both of his shirt sleeves.
Dazed, he lifts his hands up to the light to get a better look. But there are no hands. Just dark red masses of muscle and arteries that seem to be in a bizarre state of suspension. The muscles visible twitch as his forearms tense up, and he stares at them blankly for what seems like ages.
The ball of electricity fizzles and disappears as he passes out.
It's over an hour later when he finally wakes up again, his headache worse and his senses slow to reorient themselves. His ragged breathing is answered by a deep hooting noise, and he looks up to see Bilruben's large, glassy eyes reflecting what little light was coming from the artificially displayed moon. The giant owl doesn't move as he sits there in the darkness, a silent sentry while he tries to stop hyperventilating.
He can barely think. The confused, despairing noises he makes are largely incoherent, earning him a tilted stare from the owl as it watches. He doesn't know how long he sits there before he fumbles in the dark, half turned over in the wet grass, to try opening his journal.]
I need help.
[It's breathless and strained. Short and vague.]
[While he had heard of the people -- echoes of people -- appearing around the village, Albert did not happen to see one right away. It's as he's taking a break outside of Celsius Tear that he takes notice of a teenage girl standing in front of the mural by the Welcome Center. He descends the stairs to watch her.
That had been ... almost three years ago now, he recalled as he watched the girl cheerfully set down a bucket of yellow paint. Without paying him any attention or seeing the completed mural in front of her, the girl dipped a paintbrush into the bucket and began making sweeping motions across the mural. Pao-Lin, he finally recalls as she bends over to dip her paintbrush again.
He watches for a while, eventually looking over his shoulder at the other mural that surrounded the fountain. That had been another of her projects with volunteers, done a year later.
He can't help but think about that saying as he watches her paint -- that art only found its value after its artist was gone.]
-----
September 17
[The fountain plaza proves to be a good spot to see the 'echoes,' and Albert decides to take his breaks outside to observe despite the weather looking increasingly storm-like. Sometimes the person he sees is only a flicker of movement, walking around the fountain or sitting on its edge, eating lunch. Once or twice he even sees a person seated or running across a rooftop, leaving him pondering what could have been happening at that time to lead to that behavior.
It's foolish to hope that he'll see a familiar face, he knows. But he still watches.]
-----
September 18, early afternoon
[It seems oddly fitting that he sees echoes of Nami and Yuber on the day of the thunderstorm. Nami, back before she had begun to grow weary of having such awful luck with picking fights with the wrong people. Back before she had been a threat.
...This must have been when Nami declared she would arrest Yuber, going by her uncharacteristic uniform, untouched by the falling rain. He certainly remembered that.]
[Albert can be found in Celsius Tear in the mornings or around the fountain plaza and its stores in the afternoons.]
-----
September 19, evening
Content warning: limb loss
[It happens when he is returning to the hot springs teleporter from visiting his giant owl. The headache comes out of nowhere, like a wave crashing over him, and he drops his journal from where he had been loosely holding it against his side. Shaking his head to clear the disorientation, Albert concentrates enough on Tsinku enough to summon a sphere of contained electricity to light the ground. Upon spotting his journal, he crouches to pick it up.
That's when he notices that there is nothing at the end of his shirt sleeve -- at both of his shirt sleeves.
Dazed, he lifts his hands up to the light to get a better look. But there are no hands. Just dark red masses of muscle and arteries that seem to be in a bizarre state of suspension. The muscles visible twitch as his forearms tense up, and he stares at them blankly for what seems like ages.
The ball of electricity fizzles and disappears as he passes out.
It's over an hour later when he finally wakes up again, his headache worse and his senses slow to reorient themselves. His ragged breathing is answered by a deep hooting noise, and he looks up to see Bilruben's large, glassy eyes reflecting what little light was coming from the artificially displayed moon. The giant owl doesn't move as he sits there in the darkness, a silent sentry while he tries to stop hyperventilating.
He can barely think. The confused, despairing noises he makes are largely incoherent, earning him a tilted stare from the owl as it watches. He doesn't know how long he sits there before he fumbles in the dark, half turned over in the wet grass, to try opening his journal.]
I need help.
[It's breathless and strained. Short and vague.]
no subject
[Simple as that. Her work is done for the day anyway, even if it was mostly meant as a distraction.]
Keep talking, if it helps you stay focused.
no subject
[He's still aware of just how public their current conversation is, though that's not the main reason why doesn't want to continue talking. He hisses faintly as he moves in the grass.]
I'm-- relatively fine. I just can't get back.
no subject
Right now she has to think. Was there time to fetch Astrid, or Noishe? Probably not, since she still had to cross the square to get over to the teleporter in the first place. Even so, if traveling was part of his problem...
A bridge to be crossed once she could actually assess what that was.
Water. Supplies. Those she carries with her, so that's not a problem either.]
Call out if anything changes.
no subject
For now, he focuses on the feeling of relief that he wasn't going to be spending the night out in the mountains.]
no subject
No, there was no time for that.
She keeps an eye on her journal, waiting for any sign of change. If they ran into trouble, would they think to signal? The thought has her back at the teleporter, ready to try using it again when the pair finally appears.
Immediately she heads to Albert's side, though she throws a sharp glance to Sheena, demanding, assessing.]
What happened? [She'll see for herself soon enough; there's something strange about his hands, his sleeves-]
no subject
no subject
[... Well. That's an explanation of a sort, as she opens her mouth, closes it, processing the sight in front of her.
She had seen those scars on his wrists before. To see the wrists bare...] These -- these shifts.
no subject
They-- don't hurt terribly. Surprisingly.
no subject
[There's no need to gloss over that. Instead, she focuses on giving him a proper look over, arms and all.
Scarily enough, it's not the worst condition she's seen him in, over the years. After her careful look over, she then carefully begins preparing her healing magic; it won't do a thing for his condition, though she's hoping at least to ease some of his other symptoms, though whether or not the shift will allow it is something they won't know without testing. ]
no subject
When he finally speaks again, it's with a wry tone.]
I dearly hope this doesn't last long.
no subject
[Raine frowns in thought, observing him. She knew the magic wouldn't do very much, but it's difficult to see in action just how little can be helped about any of this. And even worse for him, to be in this position at all.]
We can rest here a while before seeing about getting you back to the house. [Thankfully the recreation center is having a quiet evening so far, with only the three them there right now.
There are still, however, other difficult matters to attend to.] ... You should have some water.
no subject
The battle dome clinic would be a better idea.
[It makes sense in his head, at least. If his arms spontaneously begin spouting out blood, there really wouldn't be any easy way of stopping it before he bled out.]
no subject
It's a little more out of the way, but we should be able to manage that. [Provided nothing else happened along the way, though she doesn't exactly know what to expect with this shift.] Noishe is outside as well.