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Lydia

"Give them an inch and they'll take your smile."

0 · 2,788 views · located in Sam's Puzzle

a character in “The Human Puzzle”, as played by pieluver

Description

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BASICS


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{ AGE }
18

{ GENDER }
Female

{ PARTNER }
Rezia



ABILITY:

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{ Healing }
Lydia has light healing abilities that are primarily time based. She can accelerate the healing process, but her reserves are limited and it takes her about twenty-four hours to regenerate her powers. For full body healing, not focusing on a specific wound, she can speed the healing process by about three days, a bit less depending on the severity and number of wounds. Typically, this power is enough to close most lacerations, and can also reduce swelling and bruising, and leaves and short sensation of good health and happiness around the recipient, due to her ability to balance the body's chemistry, though her power in this area pales greatly in comparison to her brother's power. If she focuses on a single wound, like a broken bone or a deeper wound, she can heal the victim up to one month, but her actions prevent the body from trying to heal the wound on its own, so for serious wounds or broken bones, she requires several sessions to heal the person, or there is a high chance the bone will not set right, or the wound will never heal fully.

Her power level is denoted by her eyes, which at top power are a light violet colour, and as she uses up her power for the day they first lose their red hues, then the cornflower slowly fades into cerulean, then royal blue, then cobalt, then a navy, then grey, then fully black and glassy. She can use her power on more than one recipient, as long as she doesn't fully use her reserve. Things like temporarily balancing body chemistry only take a small amount of power, and cuts and bruises take a bit more, deeper wounds and multiple wounds drain a little more than half her power, and healing internal injuries or broken bones takes her full reserve.

While her power is very limited, she has found that she is more effective on repeat customers, and the calmer she is while exerting her power, the better the results are. She has to have skin to skin contact with the recipient for successful healing, and typically has more success when using her hands and when the site she touches is closer to the site of the wound or in the head or facial region.


{ Weaknesses }
For one thing, Lydia's power is quite limited, and she has only been able to increase her ability a slight amount through practice, so she knows that there is little chance for significant improvement. Also, once her power is completely drained, she becomes more listless and empty, as if a part of her life force has been drained, and the sensation is quite unpleasant for her. She also has to consciously use her power on her own wounds, or they will not heal. Also, once she's drained her power completely, she cannot use it again until she is fully recharged, or it causes her extreme fatigue, nausea, and dizziness, as well as more than halving the effectiveness of her power.

{ Containment }
There has been little reason to prevent Lydia from using her powers, she has no ability to harm anyone, and typically helps anyone who comes to her for healing without hesitation, from her brother to the guards and scientists that she encounters. There are two simple ways to prevent her from using her power to either heal herself, or her brother, other than just asking her not to, because while she would willingly not heal herself to avoid punishment, it would be more difficult for her to restrain herself from healing her brother. The first would be to completely cover her skin so she cannot make contact between herself and the recipient, but that could not prevent her from healing herself. The other is to purposefully cause her or another harm so she drains her power, before she can use it elsewhere.



PERSONALITY:


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Lydia has always been soft and delicate, relying on her brother to look out for her. She is kind and timid, always willing to give a word of encouragement and do everything in her power to help others, even at the point of sacrificing herself. She relies on her brother to keep her grounded and remind her that she needs to take care of herself too. She used to be a happy, innocent girl, carefree and at peace with the world, sure that good would always prevail, and while she was on the shy side, she knew her brother was there for her, and would pick her up if she stumbled, and she could do the same for him.

The more things change in Lydia's mind, the more they stay the same. Living in the facility has warped her mind, and her methods of coping are hurting her more than anything else. She has pinned her existence on her brother, only staying alive because he told her that he needed her, and she'd do anything for him, do anything he told her to do. If she lost him, she'd die, because what other purpose is there in her miserable life.

The innocence that once filled her heart is gone too. While still seemingly sweet and childlike, Lydia has become more like a machine, coldly rational, willing to do anything, manipulate anyone, to protect herself and more importantly, keep her and her brother together. While originally she helped the workers in the facility out of the goodness of her heart, when she was still foolish and young, unaware of the full implications of her stay in the facility, she quickly saw that she could make allies, accrue favors, and use her delicate appearance to keep things turned in her favor. But it meant that she couldn't fight at all, which was okay with her, as long as her brother said it was okay.

At this point, she's okay with the fact that she's barely hanging on to life, that having to use her power to frequently so the scientists can study it is causing massive weight loss and has taken a chunk of her personality with it, leaving her mostly empty, her eyes perpetually dull. The only thing that makes her happy anymore is her brother's attempts to cheer her up. She knows that he is hurting and is hiding it from her, and she does her best to keep his spirits up with her power when she can, but she's lost interest in most everything else, though she's good at putting up the facade when she needs to.

Despite all this, in the core of her being, though her spirit has been broken time and time again, she is still a kind, sweet girl, incapable of holding grudges, and willing to help those who are hurting, and though her motives are more twisted than they once were, she still feels some measure of happiness from healing others, because it validates her existence. But she is very close to only viewing herself as a number, an asset, a power, not an individual, worthless except in what she can offer others. Her brother's reassurance used to help her, but lately she's started to lose whats left of her confidence to the void.


{ Passions }
Rezia
Rezia is the most important thing in her life. He's almost always been there, a steady constant. Even though they've both become more broken as life went on, He's still the reason she continues living. She doesn't know what she'd do without him.

Stories
Fantastical, far away worlds, living in someone else's mind, seeing the world from another perspective, Lydia loves reading books, listening to other people tell stories, and telling her own stories.

Singing
Lydia likes to make up songs, sing little tunes, the lyrics from Rezia's favorite songs, and sing accompaniment to his violin.

Healing
While using her power drains her, there is something cathartic about fixing someone else's wounds. It makes her feel useful, needed, important.

Puzzles
Lydia likes all kinds of little games and puzzles that require her to think through them. They are very logical and predictable, and she enjoys that. They're safe. Logic games and riddles are often a good way to calm her down, especially when separated from Rezia.


{ Dislikes }
Pain
Well, naturally, Lydia is adverse to pain. Though she's become more numb to it as the years passed, she still hates being stabbed and cut for the sake of experiments.

Being Separated from Rezia
While she is easily quieted, she often puts up a fuss when separated from her brother. If he's not in her line of sight she becomes very uneasy.

Darkness
While not fully afraid of the dark, darkness still makes her uncomfortable, and she tends to cling to Rezia when she has to deal with dark environments.

Sadness
Being a kind soul, Lydia wouldn't wish sadness on even her enemies. She hates to see her brother so sad.

Nonsense
Lydia dislikes things or people who don't make sense, don' act rationally, or don't have an innate sense of logic.


{ Weaknesses }
While kind to a fault, Lydia isn't much of a people person, and has a hard time understanding other people. She likes things that are rational, and has a hard time relating to people who she doesn't perceive as rational. Or anyone other than her brother, really. She's also very timid, and doesn't stand up for herself at all, relying on her brother instead. She lives entirely for her brother's sake, and has no real will to live or do anything beside.

{ Fears }
Losing Rezia
She knows she'd die if she lost Rezia, whether through death or him being taken from her.

Losing her Power
Lydia's personality now revolves around the fact that she has a power, and she fears that she'll be worthless, useless to her brother, without it.

Harming People
Lydia, while she would hurt someone if it came down to that, is terrified that it might become a reality, because in truth she doesn't know if she could live with that weighing on her shoulders.





APPEARANCE:


Lydia is a willowy girl, long and slim, standing at about 5 feet 7 inches, though her once smooth figure now shows obvious signs of stress and malnutrition. She looks a bit like a hollowed out doll. She has large bambi eyes that make her look waifish and immaterial, taking up most of her once full face. She has a gentle, heart shaped face with a delicate chin and full lips that always seem to have teethmarks in them from her nervous habit. Her nose is small and looks straight, but if one touches it, they can feel where it's been broken several times and hastily knit back together.

Long blonde hair wreaths the girl's head, spiraling in soft, mussed curls down to the small of her back and shrouding her face in a corn-silk halo. She usually wears her hair like a curtain, dusting over her eyes and close over her shoulders so it can be used to hide her face at a moment's notice. Her hair also hides her collarbone and shoulders, where the bone protrudes from the thin layer of skin stretched over it, making her meduim-light skin an even paler colour. She had never been particularly curvy, but malnutrition has mostly returned her to a child's figure, her chest is small and her hips are narrow, but her waist is painfully thin. Her arms are also long and thin, and her hands are impossibly small, with dainty, thin rounded nails.

Her eyes are her greatest asset, and her greatest tool, it takes little effort on her part to look like a frightened doe, and her face has settled into that fearful/mournful expression so well that it has become her resting face. Other expressions take their manifestation on her face in small ways, her smiles are tiny, and so are the signals of true distress. Her brother is the only one who can truly read her face and know how she's feeling, and he's also the only one who can make her truly smile anymore.

Oftentimes she is dressed in white dresses or in natural earthy colours, or some combination of both, which adds to the innocent look she strives for and is born by it. Despite her frail body, she still moves with a light grace, pretending to be one of the princesses from her childhood. It helps her keep it all together.


{ Defining Features }
Despite her healing ability, Lydia doesn't have much to spare on keeping her body immaculate, so she usually heals herself until she's stopped bleeding, then leaves the scars, which don't heal on their own, and remain angry red tissue until she attends to them again, which is a rare occurrence. She has many lacerations on her body, from cuts on her forearms to sites of stab wounds and roughly administered needle scars on her upper arms and thighs. Her back is also in a similar state, and there is a certain fragility to her body from bones that were hastily and not completely mended. She has little cares about her appearance, and would much rather spend her healing power on her brother than on herself. Most of her wounds are from testing, not from punishment.

{ Weight }
109

{ Build }
Spindly




THOUGHTS ON OTHERS:



{ Pair One }
Lydia fears the dark ones, but she respects that they did what they had to keep each other. She worries what will happen if they are put at odds, because while she would do whatever it took to keep her brother alive and safe, she knows she does not match them in strength by a long shot. But on the same coin, thinking of them makes her grateful for her power, that she cannot kill, that, while she is subjected to painful testing, she does not have to kill for her brother, because while she knows she would, she also knows it would tear her apart and in keeping him, she'd lose herself.

{ Pair Two }
Stupid. Lydia finds them stupid, and their lack of rational thought is unsettling and dangerous. They only bring more punishment to themselves, and for what? The testing happens regardless, she can't see why they wouldn't want to keep each other more than their dignity. But she fears them too, for their obviously unpredictable behavior, and she wants nothing to do with them.




HISTORY:



{ Ability }
Lydia was born with her ability, though her birth was deliberate, part of a project to create more and stronger healers. She didn't start showing signs of her ability until she was about seven, however. Her ability is an amplified version of that of a mother she never knew.

{ Free Life }
Born into the facility, Lydia knows nothing of the outside world but what she's read in books, though even her reading has been carefully monitored by the scientists. She's never shown much interest in the outside world, assuming that it's really just the same as life inside the facility.

{ Facility Life }
Since she and her brother were young, many of the scientists treated them with kindness. Perhaps it was because they knew that her ability could never hurt anyone, or just because she and her brother were sweet, mild mannered children, a set of little blond cherubs running around the gardens and certain supervised portions of the facility. While Lydia never knew her parents, she assumed that the facility as a whole was her family, and Rezia, of course was her brother, and her only friend. So she grew very close to him.

As they grew older and she started exhibiting her power, she became worried that Rezia wasn't doing it too. They were siblings! They did everything together! She didn't want to leave him behind! She started to really dislike the testing, but everyone always promised her that if she misbehaved then she wouldn't get t stay with Rezia, so she tried her best to always be good. But she couldn't help but notice how now she was always getting warm attention from the scientists, especially when she healed them, and Rezia seemed to be getting the cold shoulder.

However, when he finally showed his power, Lydia started to realize what it meant to have a power in the facility. Gone were the days of sunshine and frolicking outside with her brother and scientists occasionally slipping them candies or little toys. While they were still treated fairly favorably, the testing got worse. She was separated from Rezia and promised that she'd never see him again unless she cooperated. So, even though from that point on the experiments became more painful and invasive, she took them with little complaint, as long as Rezia was okay. And of course, the other occasional gifts that they'd received were nice as well, and most of the scientists treated them fairly kindly. What more could she ask for?





OTHER




{ COLOR }
#0E8C3A

{ THEME SONGS }
Keane - Somewhere Only We Know

So begins...

Lydia's Story

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Damion
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#, as written by Shané
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Her slender fingers slid up and down the piano, gently pressing down the keys to the familiar melody. She felt rather than saw Damion draw near to the piano and smiled slightly as he passed on his compliments. However soon her smile slipped off her face as the weight of the sound dragged her emotions with them.

Within a few minutes words were suddenly spoken into her music, though being so involved in it, Ember felt it came from another world. The voice had a dreamlike quality, and with her mind wrapped up deeply within the layers of the song Ember took a while to register that the uncharacteristically strong voice came from Lydia. The intensity of the melancholy chords started to swell and Ember felt her emotions start to give in to the sorrowful pull of the words. However she was careful to try to replace her mask, not wanting to lose control entirely.

Then the first few notes were plucked from the strings of a violin. The instruments inseparable merge with the intense sorrow of the song smashed through her mask without warning. Instantaneously the tears started to fall. After almost a year of complete hardening against such display of emotion, the torrent was suddenly unstoppable. With an uncontrollable sob, her fingers abruptly left the piano just shy of finishing the melody.

Almost as quickly she had wrenched shut the piano lid with a shocking snap. Her body instinctively jumped at the sharp noise, before she placed her head in her hands in a vain attempt to hold the emotion in. All the vented up pain of the years came tumbling out in the only way her heart could foresee expressing it; in tears.

"How easily Sam gives, and yet always he takes it away." Her words were laden with her emotion, soft yet strong enough to be audible.

In an instant her mood changed from despair to a boiling anger. Her eyes flashed a deep crimson and without thinking she raised a fist slamming it forcefully down upon the piano lid.

"I hate him."

Those three words were heavy with an unfathomable venom. For the next few seconds she was frozen in her burning anger, shaking from the strength of her outburst.

And then without warning the lights all went out at once.

She let out a frightened gasp, her body jumping in sudden shock causing her to throw herself to the floor between the piano and the stool. For what seemed like forever the lights remained off, and the room was pitch black.

Abruptly all the lights were back on and Ember was found curled up under the piano, hands clamped forcefully over her mouth. She appeared like a ghost with the colour completely drained from her face. Her eyes were grey with fear and she was rocking herself back and forth.

"I'm sorry." The sound was muffled but strained enough to be heard. "I take it back….I'm sorry."

There was no sincerity, only a sense of complete terror at having been reminded of who was in control and an all-consuming fear of repercussions.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Damion
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Reiza had taken it upon himself to grab a violin, and join in with Ember, and his sister. Many of the others stuck here seemed to be musically adept, and he almost expected Delirium, and Whispers to join in as well. Instead however there was a noticeable snap coming from the piano, regrettably leaving the song unfinished. Ember had shut the lid, and she was in tears. With emotions clearly woven into her voice, she spoke about Sam, and how he can so easily take everything away from them. Unfortunately she spoke the truth, that was something Damion couldn't deny.

He mentally scolded himself, he was so focused on the pleasant music unfolding before him that he hadn't noticed Ember's distress. He immediately sat up, and rushed over to her. Before he could do anything however she angrily slammed her fist down upon the piano lid. She was anger that much was clear, rage seemed to come through her every pour. She was so angry she apparently felt the need to speak the words which he had always assumed but never thought he would hear her say out loud. "I hate him"

He was shocked that she so openly declared her hatred of that vile man. There was no anomaly that had suffered from Sam's influence that didn't hate him, but few so openly detested him. Even Damion who unbeknownst to most anomalies hated the man just as much, if not more than they had, had never declared his hatred out loud. However in an effort to calm Ember he was about to agree, tell her just how much he hated Sam for keeping them apart. Before he could however all the lights went out, and Damion jumped back in surprise. All he heard was Ember gasp, and fall to the floor.

"Ember!" He called out worriedly, this had undoubtedly been Sam retaliating, who knows what he would do. Once again Ember, and the thought of something happening to her had managed to release the emotions from the normally stoic killer. When the lights had turned back on he frantically searched for Ember, finally finding her huddled underneath the piano.

She was terrified, he could tell. Her hands were forced over her mouth like she was afraid to say anything more, and she was pale.The fear coming from her was almost palpable, she was so terrified Damion himself was starting to get scared. He was afraid that Sam would do something else, hurt Ember, take her away from him. His eyes were wide with fear, and without following her under the piano he reached a shaky hand towards Ember."Ember. It's going to be okay, I promise you. I won't let anything hurt you. Please come out, please. His voice was seeping with worry. He wanted to be there for her, he so desperately wanted to ease her troubles. Seeing her in such a state was more agonizing than most anything he had suffered in the facility. "How about we go to our room okay? It's been a long day. I'm sure you could use a rest." His hand hung there in the air, just waiting for her to take it. Hoping for a sign that she was all right.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Damion
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#, as written by Haas33
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Delirium felt slightly stung by Rezia's words, but did not say anything back. He had every right to be in a mood after he'd saved her from that nightmare. THe image of Ember grinning like a maniac flashed across her eyelids again and Delirium gasped suddenly and shut her eyes. She still didn't feel quite right. For one thing she was completely drained, she could barely move, her headache was unbearable, and Rezia had left her in search of some music coming outside the door. Delirium turned slowly towards the wall and curled into her blankets, attempting at sleep She was just slipping into the start of a nightmare when she woke up suddenly.

Stephen approached her, and Delirium nearly shot bolt upright in bed. He was safe. Alive, and for the most part, unharmed. Delirium instantly felt ashamed that she hadn't gone to help him. But in reality, in her state she couldn't have helped him. She might have even made matters worse. But it still wasn't a good excuse for herself. She had abandoned him when he had needed him. Tears suddenly pooled in her eyes and she broke down.

"Stephen...." She said in a choked sob. She reached out her hand to him. She wanted him to be close to her. They'd been through so much together, and yet after one day in this hell she felt like she'd nearly lost him, and lost herself. Maybe she just was not cut out for social interaction. Again, she felt tired. So tired. And hungry, almost like a little angry monster inside her that had been pushed to the back of her thoughts until now. But that didn't matter right now. How had she become like this? SHe reached a hand towards him, and gently pulled him to her, so he was level with her. What had they gotten themselves into? She wouldn't bear the thought of anything happening the him. Not this time. Not when there was so much to lose. Just like how she could wreck havoc with a simple glance, Stephen could wreck havoc by simply opening his mouth. They were dangerous, but not deadly. Absentmindedly, Delirium traced the line of his lip with her thumb, wondering how something so simple could do such a thing.

Shock registered on her own face at what she was doing, and she pulled back, surprised with herself. She dropped her arm and a blush crept up her face that matched her hair. "Sorry," she mumbled, and turned away from him. Her heart was beating rapidly. Stephen had always been the brother she never had. Yet right now a different feeling lurched in her stomach. She was just tired. Not thinking straight. This couldn't happen, not here, and not now. What was she thinking?

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Damion
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Damon entered the room, vanishing from Lydia's sight, but she was losing herself in the music, feeling truly calm for the first time since entering this place. Then Rezia, looking similarly entranced, passed by her, and she offered him a small smile as he entered the room, and shortly after she heard the sweet strains of a violin. She was awash in memory. While her life hadn't been particularly good, she could still cling to those small moments that made everything okay. Rezia. When the piano cut off abruptly, she felt her voice die in her throat, no longer strong without the firm guide of melody beside it. She hesitantly moved over to the door of the new room to investigate. Ember was sobbing loudly, curled over the piano. Lydia covered her mouth with her hands anxiously, her eyes darting to Rezia, averting themselves as Damion went over to comfort the dark haired girl.

Then those words emitted from Ember, it didn't even seem like she said them, more like they seeped from her form, hovering with a tangible venom in the air. Then there was a pause for a few seconds, like everything was holding its breath, and then the lights went out. Lydia let out a small shriek, like a dog shocked by an electric fence, and her hands immediately reached out, searching for Rezia so she could hide her face in his shoulder. New tears, caused by the sudden fear, dribbled down her face.

She needed Rezia, he was the only one who could help her handle the dark. Without him she was alone, and unsafe. "Rezia?" She cried out softly, her voice like a sharp intake of breath. Then the lights flicked back on again, and Lydia winced as her pupils shrank. She wiped her watery eyes on the back of her hand and pressed her face against Rezia's shoulder, shivering slightly. She could feel the room breaking down around them, she didn't need Rezia's power to sense the tension the dark pair were feeling. She could hear Damion comforting Ember, and her soft voice crying that she was sorry. The sound of it made Lydia's stomach twist. Everything was just so...so....wrong. It wasn't fair.

"I wanna go home." She whimpered softly. Even thought there was no home for the two of them. Only more testing, and more testing, and then...? She didn't want to be the brave girl, the good girl anymore, she just wanted things to go back to the way they were. Maybe she hadn't been happy, but at least she'd been safe. At least Rezia had been safe. Here...she had a feeling that if everyone made amends and played nice, things would only get worse for them. Sam was that kind of man, and she knew it. He made sure they knew it. It was a lose-lose situation. Was there anything worse?

There was no home for them. So she just clung to Rezia and snuffled quietly. She wanted to be strong, she needed to be strong, but she just couldn't. Not after what she'd done to Delirium, not after hearing Ember crying softly on the ground beneath the piano. Everything was falling apart, and it felt like it was her fault. "I'm sorry." She whispered, echoing Ember's quiet cry. They were helpless here, and she was empty, powerless to do anything. She was the healer, she was the saver, she was the fixer.

But here they were. Still.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Damion
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Rezia was aware that the music stopped and finished his last note just to have and end. He never liked having songs 'unfinished'. He looked up at Ember and instantly felt on edge. Her emotions were bombarding him and he winced. His head was still very sensitive and would be until he got some rest. He couldn't cope with all the emotions in the room. He backed away from Ember and her constantly changing volatility. He didn't want to get caught up in something after all. He had enough of that for one day and he still had to complete his side of the bargain with Delirium.

Then the lights went out. He instantly pulled Lydia against him to protect her from whatever Sam was going to throw at them next. It wasn't long before the light was back. Rezia saw Ember beneath the piano trembling and fear and regret wrapped around his head. Then Damion had to join in with his concern and Lydia was clinging to him with her fear. It was making him dizzy. It wasn't long before he was coughing up blood again. At least Ember and Damion were busy with each other. This was the best time to get out of the room. He ushered Lydia back into the large central room and rubbed his head. He winced when he realized he had smudged some of his blood on Lydia's shirt. She was going to freak out on him and try to heal something but this was not something her power could help with.

"Lydia, I have one last thing to do. I want you to run back to our room and stay there. You need rest and everyone is exhausted. I want you to swear to me that you aren't going to try and heal me. You don't have the energy to do so. I can carry this weight on my own. I want to get Delirium's task out of the way and she needs to shock me 3 times. I am going to use the protection mechanism of her door to do that. I don't want you to watch or even come out of your room until you've rested. I'll be okay. I trust Delirium enough now. Once the task is done, I am confident she'll pull me into the room or bring me to our room. Again, you are not to leave the safety of our room, do you hear me?" He asked, his eyes clearly portraying that there was no wiggle room in his request.

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Damion
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Stephen Winters | The Rebel | Neural Disruption | #F70D1A

Stephen's eyes glazed over, aware of Katherine's attempts to level with him but not fazed by her touch. Normally he would relish human contact but even that felt foreign now. In his mind's eye she was a red blur, an abstraction of something that was once warm but now nothing. How could he explain his feelings of displacement. It was more than isolation because that still implied he was tethered to his body but he had nothing of the sort right then and there. Basic things like the sound of the piano or the words from Lydia's mouth passed by him, replaced by the ringing of tortures past.

He remembered the first time that sound was used against him in an ironic sort of way when he was punished by an executioner with the ability to copy the abilities of others, albeit in an altered form. That woman managed to make him vomit and kneel over while guards wearing masks beat him into the concrete floors. His ears popped and the ringing never quite stopped afterwards as he still remembered her voice, the static, as it blocked out any of the other noises around him.

His only comfort came when Katherine thumbed his lips and whispered his name. In that moment she sounded like a knight, a warrior who cut through the static long enough for him to realize that he was still alive. He still had her to lean on if everything else went south.

Why are you still here? he thought with tears threatening to leave his eyes, why do you care enough to put up with me?

Yet instead of crying he merely faced away long enough to gather himself.

At this point he wasn't sure why the others weren't back, but saw Lydia and Reiza enter the room soon enough. Clearly passing their tests didn't warrant leaving the area but it was a cruel comfort knowing that everyone was stuck with him in this hell hole. He didn't want to be abandoned by anyone at any point and he was sure that if Damion hadn't given him the key to the muzzle he might have broken then and there. To be stuck alone and muzzled would have warranted bashing himself against the walls until he knocked out, but knowing now that there was another window of opportunity gave him enough strength to speak to his partner.

"It's okay," he whispered, "I shouldn't be acting weak like this."

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There was blood on her dress, and there was blood on his mouth. Lydia felt her throat close up. She wasn't scared of blood, but there was something about the way it looked against Rezia's fair skin that sent a tremor down her spine. She reached up and wiped off the smeared blood off his mouth. There wasn't much she could do for him now, when he got like this, it wasn't fair that she couldn't help him when his powers took a toll on him. She held on to his hands as he spoke to her, his eyes large and serious. He looked so tired. And he was still trying to protect her and fulfill his promise to Delirium.

She felt overcome again, tears dribbling down her face, but instead of the fear she'd just been experiencing, she was now in awe of Rezia's goodness. He was so strong. He'd worked himself so hard, and he was still going, despite the blood he was coughing up and the obvious exhaustion in his features. He'd told her not to heal him, so she did not, though she wanted badly to rejuvenate him somehow, but she focused on sending him all her feelings of warmth and love and caring towards him, hoping to soften the mess that had been the last few minutes.

"I will." She told him. She wasn't sure if Ember was still up for slicing her up. She had no strong desire to seek the girl out, but she'd made a promise. Rezia was making good on his promise, and she needed to do the same. Especially since she still had enough power left to heal herself. But she wouldn't tell Rezia that. He had enough on his plate. And maybe Ember would want to wait a little while before completing her task. "I just need to talk to Ember, and then I will stay in the room, I promise." She said, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him for a few seconds. Then she pressed her forehead against his, reminded again of how similar they looked, their perfectly equal heights and the way their thin frames moved with the same mannerisms. She pushed every happy feeling she could think of into the forefront of her mind, hoping he would pick up on all of them.

"Please, Rezia, be safe." She murmured as she pulled away, staring hard at him with her large sad eyes, as if she could immortalize her brother just by looking at him, committing him to memory. She hated the idea that he would be in pain, and she couldn't help but feel that all of this was somehow her fault, that she should have been able to prevent all this to keep him safe, but she forced those feelings to drown under the force of her love for her brother, the only friend she'd ever had.

"I will see you soon." She told him, smiling and rubbing the tears off her cheeks. Then she moved over by the door to her and Rezia's room, it felt like it had been years since they'd first arrived on the elevator and went into the room to talk. She leaned against the door and slid down until her legs were tucked up under her, her now blood-smeared dress fanned out around her knees, wrinkled up from the struggles it had seen. She was not going to go back into that room, she didn't know what kind of state Ember was in, so she'd just wait out here to talk to her.

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Damion
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Rezia winced lightly as Lydia pressed the positive emotions towards him. He understood she was trying to support him but any type of pressure on his mind made the throbbing in his head worse. He didn't want to worry Lydia worse so he didn't say anything though part of him wanted to snap at her the way he had snapped at Delirium. If Lydia had done this before the music, he was sure he would have snapped at her and possibly pushed her away, but the music had calmed him a bit. He closed his eyes and pressed a kiss on her temple before his sister pulled away from him. Now that she was going to be safe, he could focus on his deal with Delirium. He wanted all the pain to be dealt with in one final swoop today so that he could just recover after this. The shocking was going to knock him out at least so he didn't have to worry about not being able to fall asleep.

Rezia turned and headed back to Delirium and Whisper's room and knocked on the side of the door to get their attention. Though it was going to hurt, Rezia knew he was going to have to use his mind to speak with Delirium. It wasn't that he didn't want Whispers to hear, but he was outside the door and if Ember or Damion overheard him, their plan would fail. He needed to get this across to Delirium now since he knew he was going to be out of commission for the rest of the night and as of yet, Sam didn't tell him that his task was over. Damion could not eat anything and he didn't plan on loosing this sadistic game. He had Lydia to think of. He'd take any abuse necessary and allow himself to become a monster to spare Lydia. Huh. This was probably how Damion and Ember became the shells that they were now, just doing Sam's bidding and hurting others to spare each other.

Rezia centered his gaze on Delirium and began to send emotion laden images towards her mind hoping that with her ability to sense image she would understand his message.

Delirium... I will complete my part of the bargain now and shock myself three times on your door. I will be too weak to do anything after that. Please pull me inside your room or have Whispers take me back to my room afterward. Now, here is what I want from you. My task is ongoing towards Damion. Damion can't eat anything until Sam tells me my task is over. With your power of illusion, I want you to make Damion think he is not hungry or that he has already eaten. It is a subtle manipulation. Anything too obtrusive and he'd realize we are messing with his mind. We may have to manipulate Ember a little so she doesn't notice he is not eating.

If that doesn't work, we need Whispers to drag Damion into this room and you can keep him bound with your illusions since from what I saw, Damion would be able to burn through real bonds. I can help with getting Damion into the room. Once Damion and I lock gazes, he will be immobilized. As long as we have eye contact, he won't be able to break free. This may be hard considering you'd be moving him. If anything, I could immobilize Ember until you get Damion into the room. However, this forceful avenue is one I would wish to avoid so none of us gets injured. This would also make Ember and Damion much more likely to plot against us. At least the subtle illusion can be hidden. Can you do this for me? Are you understanding my message?
Might as well make sure she was understanding him considering this whole telepathy sort of thing was new to him. You are more than welcome to tell Whispers about this plan. I just don't want Ember or Damion hearing us.

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Delirium was still extremely weak from today's events, but at least now she could get up without vomiting onto the floor (Which was always a plus). However, a strange feeling in her mind was directing her attention away from Stephen. Delirium furrowed her brow. It was almost as if someone was tapping gently on her mind as if to get her attention, and then whispering a bunch of incoherent babble. She slowly got up and walked to the door. Maybe Rezia was trying to communicate with her. She'd never been able to send illusions to people without looking at them, but maybe because this was somewhat different, she'd be able to. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the pressure on her mind.

Yes, she could definitely sense Rezia trying to communicate, but what was he saying? It was almost like a baby was trying to talk to her, saying a bunch of nonsense and then one word seems to jump out that makes sense like "food" or "blankie." Rezia's connection to her mind was still something very new and she didn't quite know the extent to it yet. She could pick up the general gist of the message. Rezia is going to shock himself now and will need our help. Something about Damion? Yes, Rezia's task. Food? Damion can't eat food. Illusions for damion... tying him up... everything was very incoherent but with a lot of concentration she strung together the important parts of the message. Should she tell Stephen about her task and Rezia's? It would certainly be better if he could help, but after what he just went through maybe it would best not to drag Stephen into her problems at the moment. Instead of trying really hard to send back a message without looking at him with her still aching head, she simply opened the door a bit and continued their silent conversation.

I think I understand most of what you said. Go ahead and shock yourself and I'll wait out here so I can pull you into the room if you pass out. I don't know how bad of a shock it will be. I can try and subtly putting an illusion on Damion, but it will only work when I'm around him. If he takes food into his room I won't be able to stop him from eating it. I think the best action would just be to take all the food and stockpile it in one of our rooms. If either ask where the food went, we just play dumb and assume Sam took it away. I don't know how long this task lasts. But for now, let's deal with this and get it over with. Again, I'm really sorry about this. Also, the task was for me to shock you. I don't want there to be any question if I technically completed my task or not. I can see Sam pulling something if you just shock yourself. Would you be ok with me at least pretending to force you to touch the door?

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Rezia winced as Delirium began to relay her part of the message to him. It didn't hurt any less but it was required. He couldn't wait until all of this was over. Hell, even if he passed out, it would be relief considering he'd be unconscious so he wouldn't feel any more pain and he wouldn't be bothered with anything. It made him wonder if death wasn't such a bad option for them. Death was release. He didn't believe in heaven or hell so to him, it was just emptiness... emptiness and nothing which in itself was relief. Anything else was just pain or too overwhelming. He shook his head to clear those thoughts away however. He couldn't think like that. Lydia needed him even if he couldn't provide her with everything she deserved.

He gave Delirium a nod then. Yes, that is fine. Let's just get this over with, he answered her.

He reached a hand up to rub his throbbing forehead. He moved to the side to let Delirium out of her room. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, a bit awkward considering the nature of this task. He tried not to tense when Delirium put her hands on him. Being limp always made things hurt less right? At least he hoped so. She pushed him and he stumbled into the protective barrier of her room. The electricity immediately coursed through his body and Rezia cried out in pain as his body seized and convulsed. He dropped to his knees panting, his mind blank and body still twitching. He didn't have much time to recover as Delirium pushed him into the barrier the required second time.

This time, Rezia found himself laying on the floor, drooling. His body was twitching from the residual electricity. "gnnnnn....." he answered. Then at last, he was shocked the third and final time. Unfortunately the nature of his abilities and the power of the shocks, put him into a grand mal seizure. Rezia's body convulsed as he collapsed unconscious.

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Stephen Winters | The Rebel | Neural Disruption | #F70D1A

Whispers returned Katherine's affection with his own, gripping her fingers tightly within his while he tried hard to accept her comfort. Normally he would be ecstatic to receive her love, the love that he enjoyed more than he should have and he was happy...but only in the loosest definition of the word. Her soft touches brought him back to Earth long enough for her words to drift into his head.

He watched as she kissed each knuckle with care, making sure not to hit the bruises or soft parts of the skin where he'd previously been hurt. They were tender, soft, and deliberate, as if she knew the code to each lock keeping him in stasis. Small things like murmurs about the need to keep fighting, a lack of control, they all resonated with him and reminded him of where he was and what he needed to do. They also, unfortunately, reminded him of his past failures. The two only needed one time out of a million to go their way, but they simply hadn't found it yet. They just needed to stay strong and find it.

"Why can't we be weak for a while? Let someone else make the decisions. Just lie down and sleep. I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since the day I was born. Let's stop pretending everything is ok and that we will make it out of here. Maybe we will. But for now let's be weak."

"But we're not pretending, we're..." Whispers's voice trailed off as his body became awash with something else all too familiar, one of Katherine's illusions.

Even in this mode he still called her by her first name because the illusion she'd showed him wasn't of his sister for once. No, it was of him and Katherine plotting their little schemes to try and escape. She showed him their first meeting when he heard her through the vents that had to exist and inevitably led to their friendship. Each escape attempt fueled him with more serenity, but also more passion to learn about what they'd done wrong and how to rectify their mistakes. There were the times when he'd let Katherine use her power on him so that he could see his sister again, but she must have known now that it wasn't enough for him to see an illusion of Sarah. He needed something more real, more meaningful and Katherine knew that she was the closest thing to real that this limited world of his had to offer...as well as something else.

Whispers supposed that he made it obvious in the way that he interacted with her in the past (or maybe she was sharper than he pegged her for) since the shift was recent.

"Katherine why are you here? What are you doing?" he muttered, his mind's eye unable to discern what was real and what was willful interpretation on his part.

What started from distant memories began approaching the moments before she'd cast her illusions on him where for the first time he felt contented to let his muscles relax and his body go limp.

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She managed to suppress a sigh of relief as Damion bent to assist her in removing the obscene display of images on the floor. She was surprised to see him place the book back on the shelf and felt a little uneasy leaving both their histories where the others could get at them. There was a lot of ammunition that could be used against them in those pages. However for now she would have to leave lest she risk sending Damion back into a dark mood.

And so she allowed herself to be pulled away from the horrors on the shelves and accepted his hand. She returned his smile with one of her own, her eyes lighting up at the reminder of all they had gained in the last 24 hours. In order to make sure it stayed that way she needed to complete her task.

"Once I deal with Lydia we can retreat from Sam's madhouse." she murmured quietly leading him gently back over to the piano stool. Reluctantly she let go of his hand to get a grip on the knife handle. Absentmindedly she looked wistfully over the piano keys and then towards the food. The thought of a full stomach made her head dizzy and only reminded her of how long it had been since her last meal.

Finish the job first. she told herself firmly.

A tortured shout made Ember jump in fright, only to realise it had something to do with the rebels. While a spike of fear went through her at the reminder of the precarious situation she gravely reminded herself that it would be better if the rebels and Rezia were tangled up in their own tasks. It meant Rezia was also too busy to do whatever his task asked of him against Damion.

She continued out of the room to find Lydia waiting for her, however all her expectations were ruined with on low humming drone. Ember let out a hiss of frustration. Of course Sam would now decide that the superficial night sequence would begin. She was sure the long droning meant exactly the same as it had in the facility; that the lights would be turned off and all Anomalies would have an enforced silence.

"I will sort my task out tomorrow." She said scathingly to Lydia, before taking a hold of Damion's hand again.

"Of all times." she muttered with exasperation to him as she marched them both to their quarters.

Despite her initial anger at her plans once again being foiled, the sight of the beds came as a sort of relief. Though she dare not admit it within the main area, Ember was exhausted. The lack of food and the extreme stress since the move from the facility had taken a harsh toll on her. Besides it had been a few years since she'd had more than a hard floor and blankets to sleep on.

She found herself sinking into the mattress with relish. By normal standards she assumed the mattress would barely suffice, given it was more like a glorified thin piece of foam, but here it was luxury. It was another few minutes before the warning drone ended and the room went black. In the darkness she could here Damion breathing, and she allowed herself an unseen grin to come over her that would have been suppressed in the light. Unbidden a rush of tears leapt to her eyes. He was alive, and in his rightful place next to her. She was tempted to call out to him, to ensure her senses did not deceive her, but she dared not while the curfew was in place.

Beside her wits were starting to leave her as her eyelids began to feel like lead. No longer able to resist, Ember let the folds of darkness drag her away for the night.

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Lydia shrank into herself, shutting her eyes, as Rezia cried out in pain. She understood that he didn't want her to see him this way, but she had her own promises to fulfill. Nonetheless, she willed herself to not look at him, to try not to listen to the sharp visceral sounds of her brother being shocked.

Then she heard someone approach, so she opened her eyes to see Ember and Damion. She began to get shakily to her feet, brushing the wetness from her cheeks, but then a deep humming sound rose from the air around them. Immediately Lydia felt heavy, tired. 18 years of conditioning had certainly left their mark on her. Ember seemed to feel it too, or at the very least knew what it meant, because she left with a dismissive snap.

Now she could sleep on what was to come. How delightful. Her body ached with the continual fear of this horrible, horrible day, and perhaps sleep would not be long in coming. Maybe it would be mercifully empty. The blonde turned her eyes to her brother. He was no longer unconscious, his body still twisted in a faux paroxysm of pain. Hopefully his unconsciousness was non-lethal.

With a wary glance at Delirium, Lydia slunk forward to retrieve her brother, looking more like a wary, feral cat than a human at this point, hunched into herself. She didn't want to search Delirium's eyes to see the anger at what she'd done, so she whipped her gaze back to her brother, trying to keep as much distance from Delirium as she could. She was very much afraid. The drone of the warning was still blaring in her head, certainly there was no time for Delirium to take revenge on her before the lights went out and the quiet hours began, but she took no chances with lingering over Rezia's limp form, she just hooked her arms under his, her hands clasped over the front of his chest so his head would loll against her shoulder, and dragged him backwards towards their room, her wary eyes on Delirium again as she labored with the body.

Before she could make it to the door, the drone ended and the lights shut off. Lydia held her squeal of fear back by biting her tongue. As much as she disliked the dark, she didn't want to risk getting in trouble. So she fumbled in the darkness for the door, one hand still vainly trying to hold her brother up, and dragged him into the safety of their room.

Then there was more fumbling to find a bed to put him in. After she finally did manage to haul him up, which took the last of her very little strength, she knelt beside his form for a little while, wiping away drool and brushing his hair from his eyes, her fingers careful on his familiar features. He was still breathing, he was still alive. He had to be. She didn't know what she'd do without him. When the lights came back on she promised herself that she'd take better care of him, but until then, she needed to recharge herself.

While sleep alone wouldn't bring back her powers in full, a few REM cycles would do a bit of good in recovering her strength. She crawled until she found the other bed, not trusting her weak knees, and pulled herself in. The bed itself was different, but the feeling of it was familiar, and she was asleep in minutes.

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Shocking Rezia was not an enjoyable event. It was too real. Delirium was so used to making people feel pain or experience things that weren’t actually there that physically hurting Rezia made her feel sick. On the final shock, Rezia completely collapsed, and Delirium quickly grabbed him to keep him from hitting his head on the floor. She slowly sank with him down to the ground and placed her head to his chest. She could still hear his heart beating, which was all she needed.

Suddenly, a humming drone sounded, signaling night. Delirium’s immediate reaction was to question if it was really was night or if Sam was just trying to mess with them. Either way, it likely meant the lights would go off soon, so she would have to hurry up and get Rezia somewhere safe. As she was about to pick up the unconscious figure, Lydia came in and looked at her warily before dragging Rezia into their room. Lydia seemed both angry at her for hurting Rezia but scared of her for what Lydia had done to her.

Either way, Delirium made no move towards the frail girl, except to cast the brief message in the form of an illusion: “I’m sorry.” The lights went out, and everything was pitch black with the exception of a few blinking red lights from cameras in the corner of rooms, but they did not illuminate anything. Delirium wondered if she would get in trouble for being out of her room. She decided talking was likely out of the question since it was usually not allowed at night in the facility. Not wanting to take any chances she quickly entered her room. She felt her way over to a bed, but found it was occupied by the sleeping form of Stephen. She was glad he was able to sleep after the day they had. She gently brushed his hair out of his face, battled the urge to curl up next to him, and then finally made it over to her own bed.

At least her task was over. At least the task against her was over. However, a selfish thought flashed through her mind- what if Stephen didn’t complete his task? What would happen to her? She would gladly help him, but for now, she needed to sleep. However, a weird feeling creeped into her, she felt strange, slow, tingly. All of a sudden a bright light appeared in her room, and it was Ember, holding a candle and a knife.

Delirium shuffled back quickly and stifled a scream. How did she even get in here? Where did she get a candle? Ember smiled to show a row of razor sharp teeth. Damion stepped out from behind her and morphed into a large wolf like half man half animal thing. Delirium couldn’t help but whimper. She was going to die. The image went fuzzy for a second though and Delirium realized with horror that the serum she had been injected with hadn’t completely left her body, and Rezia had only subdued it for a while. Delirium curled up in a ball and cried silently as all her happy memories were torn to shreds and her nightmares came to life.

She didn’t sleep at all.

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Seeing her smile was a wondrous thing, he was glad when she accepted his hand. Once she was up he was following behind her towards the piano, he gave a brisk nod at the notion of cutting up Lydia. Dirty business of course, but necessary to stay with her.. He took a quick glance back at the shelf and the book with which held so much of their history. It was a blatant risk leaving them there, but Sam was undoubtedly watching, and monitoring everything. The chance of angering Sam by destroying or removing the books from the room was one Damion was not willing to take. Perhaps he could hide them somewhere? He would have to visit this room again, and find a decent place to put them. One where they would not be found, hopefully before the others could find them.

It was regrettable when Ember let go of his hand, but he allowed her the chance to steady herself for what was to come. While she was steadying herself he looked over at the tempting food the table. His stomach was growling, he had been hungry for some time now. However he knew that Lydia had to be dealt with first. Hopefully there would be other chances to satisfy his hunger. Though knowing Sam, Damion wasn't as confident as he'd like to be.

As he stood there he was aware of some kind of commotion happening outside the room. He wasn't really sure what was going on out there, though he couldn't really be bothered to care. With any luck maybe they all killed each other, forever to be out of his hair.

When they let the room behind Damion was more than a little surprised to find Lydia sitting there waiting for them. Seems she was as eager to get this done as Ember, and Damion himself. It was a good thing to, this would be over quickly he thought to himself. He walked closer to Lydia, ready to assist Ember in her task. Before they could get started however a familiar humming sound made itself apparent. He gave a small sigh, how he hated that sound.

Ember spoke some venomous words towards Lydia, and then took his hand in her's once more, leading them towards their room. She muttered in exhaustion at the timing, Damion gave an agreement. He supposed that this shouldn't be too surprising, it was just like Sam to do inconvenience them like this.

Despite everything however he went towards the bed with relief. The day was tiresome, and he was of course starving, some sleep would be an immense relief. However once the lights finally went out he found himself unable to slip into slumber just as he did so many times back in the facility. In the darkness he looked in Ember's direction. It was good to be with her again. He had tried so hard to find his way back to her, and now that they have finally been reunited he would never let them be torn apart.

In the absence of sleep Damion moved his hand towards the wound he had sustained earlier. He gave a small almost silent sigh. He was careless. Far to emotional. Then again how couldn't he be? Despite all his efforts toward building his emotional wall Ember's presence and of course Reiza who so enraged him, had managed to easily bring that wall crashing down in less than a day. He made to many emotional mistakes, something which he would make sure to avoid in the morning. After seemingly an eternity of tossing and turning Damion somehow managed to slip into a light sleep.

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Lydia slept without dreams. She rarely ever dreamed to begin with, after growing up in a place like this, perhaps her brain had enough sense to not torment her sleeping hours with scenes from her waking ones. Or maybe she was just empty, empty, empty. Either way, it was no matter. She didn't know what she was missing. Of course, with her first waking moment, curled up in the bed in the fetal position, her forehead pressed against her knees and the arm underneath her numb, she felt dread. However used to pain she'd grown over the years, the idea of Ember cutting her open filled her with anxiety.

She sat up, straightening her crumpled dress, and rubbed her eyes. They had lightened a bit from the night before, rejuvenated by her rest, and they were now a middling blue colour, and as long as she didn't use her powers they would continue to lighten. She combed her fingers through her hair, pulling through the knots that had amassed during her sleep. After a few stretches and a good shaking out of her still sleeping arm, she pushed herself to her feet. Her body ached from being so tense over the last day, and her gait was a little stilted because of the slight hobble she'd affected.

Rezia was still asleep. Well, unconscious, really. Maybe he'd slipped from being knocked out to simply being asleep. Hopefully the shocks hadn't permanently harmed him. Could her powers work on brain damage? She lumbered over to his bed and knelt down beside it, running her cool hands over his face, so similar to her own. He didn't deserve any of this. She wanted to cry at the unfairness of all this, what had they done to deserve this? They were just two healers pitted against killers, defenseless in the lion's den. Someone was liable to break at some point. Lydia shut her eyes for a moment. She didn't know what she'd do if he was permanently hurt. How could she live without him? She'd only made it this far because of him.

She could feel the walls of her stomach shifting restlessly in her gut, reminding her that she was still hungry. She hadn't eaten at all yesterday. Maybe once Rezia woke up they could get food, or she could bring him something if he wasn't feeling strong enough to move.

What if Damion was already out there, eating? What if Rezia failed his task? Lydia sank down on her haunches, her eyes fixed high on the wall. She didn't fear death. A definitive end, instead of all this skirting around, cutting her open to make her knit herself back together. Would the finality be calming? She'd worry most about Rezia, of course, she didn't want to leave him alone to deal with everything by himself. But if she had nothing else to lose?

God, why was she thinking about this? She dropped her face into her hands and shut her eyes. She needed to pull herself together, these weren't thoughts she should be having.

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Unlike his sister, Rezia did dream. He always dreamt after a healing considering his patient's sorrow and emotions needed some sort of outlet to cycle through. Tonight, Rezia's dreams were filled with fear and anger. He clutched his pillow close trying to gain some sort of comfort. The shock induced seizure were also making his dreams rather vivid. His brain was way too active. At least he had gained some rest when his brain had 'shut down' earlier before leading into this uncomfortable sleep. Just as Delirum's dreams were filled with hellish illusions, so to was Rezia's.

Rezia was sitting in his chair in their original shared room with his headphones and he had his eyes closed. He was humming a song when the headphones were ripped off his head, cutting off a particularly heart felt verse. Rezia looked up to see Ember above him.

"Ember?" What was she doing here?

"Your task is against Damion, isn't it? Well, I am here to stop you before you do anything to him. We haven't been acquainted before, but I am going to make you scream." she laughed before she lunged forward and wrapped her hands around his throat.

The two collapsed to the ground and the two struggled,rolling over each other in their fight as Rezia tried to get her hands away from his throat. Within moments, Ember morphed to Damion himself with poison dripping from his finger tips ad he was intent on finishing the job he started earlier.

And then it was Delirium above him and she was grinning wickedly. "Thanks for cooperating with my task but you are weak. I don't need you hindering me and Whispers," she answered him and lifted a dagger before she thrust it deep into Rezia's chest earning a cry from him.


Rezia woke with a gasp and sat up as he clutched his chest, thinking Delirium had stabbed him as she had in his dreams. Rezia immediately regretted the sudden elevation and clung to his throbbing head. He hated headaches with a passion. Medication didn't often help so he had to tough it out. He forced his eyes open to look to his side when he heard movement and saw Lydia beside his bed. Oh. So he had been brought to their bedroom. He thought Whispers and Delirium would drag him into the safety of their room instead. This was good though. Lydia wasn't alone all night then. At least he assumed it was morning now. He groaned as he slowly lay back down to try and ease the ache.

"Good morning Lydia," he mumbled and draped an arm over his eyes to block the light. He still felt grouchy but his left over anger from taking Delirium's emotions wasn't as bad as it had been yesterday. He knew he was still going to have a relatively short fuse today though. "If I say anything rude or stupid, it is not you," he clarified just so his sister didn't think he hated her or was angry with her for some reason. "Are you all right? And how long was I out? Did anything happen that I need to be aware of?"

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Damion
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Delirium awoke with a groan, her aching body curled on the hard floor. At some point in the night, she must have fallen asleep, or the serum had at least worn off enough for her brain to shut down properly. She felt considerably better though, despite her lack of sleep. Her headache was gone, and despite a few aches here and there from sleeping on the ground, nothing else was ailing her. She just crossed her fingers and hoped she was done with those dreadful hallucinations.

She rose up from the ground slowly, and contemplated flopping down on the bed for a bit more sleep, but a gnawing hunger drew her towards the door. Before making her way outside, she went into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face to wake herself up.

She opened the door a crack to find Stephen and Ember in the room with all the food, not the best pairing, but at least not as volatile as herself and Ember. However, she was much to tired for an argument, and certainly didn't care enough to continue one if Ember picked a fight. Instead, she merely shuffled into the room, avoiding eye contact with Ember, and picked up some food and began to eat, slowly at first so as not to make herself sick. She inched further into the room and eyed the wall of books.

There were so many books. Curious, she started taking some out at random that looked interesting. Her eyes skimmed along the shelves before they landed on a rather odd looking book that stood out from the others. Naturally, she pulled it out slowly, only to find the name Ember written on it. Shock registered on her face briefly before she tucked it into her stack between two other books. Sure it could be coincidence, but a book about Ember? She'd want to read that. She peeked around her shoulder to find Stephen talking to Ember, which was perfect timing.

A though occurred to her though, what if there was a book about herself? Her eyes flitted along the bookcase before falling on another obviously different book. SHe pulled it out only to find that it was Stephen's. She tucked that into her stack and kept looking. She pulled out another strange book and filled with relief as she spotted her own name on it. She added couple more books plus her own to the pile, and then quickly made her way towards the exit, calmly and quietly skirting around ember. Now would be a terrible time for Ember to get too curious about the amount of books she was taking back to her room.

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Characters Present

Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Damion
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When Rezia bolted upwards suddenly, Lydia started, looking quickly up at her brother. He was sitting stark straight, clutching his chest. Was he having chest pains? Had the shocks given him arrhythmia or something? Lydia chewed her lip and rose back up on her knees to see if there was anything she could do to help, but then he grabbed his head and sank back down. Had it just been a nightmare, then? Rezia opened his eyes after a beat and looked at her, which made her sigh with relief. He was at least somewhat okay.

"Rezia," She tried to keep her voice soft so it wouldn't hurt his head even more, but she couldn't help the relief that coloured it. She edged closer to the side of his bed again, peering down at his face, covered by his arm. "You're fine, Rezia, I understand." She was very tempted to reach out and heal what she could, some of his current troubles had to be from the shocks, but last night he'd been so vehement, and she didn't want to do something without his permission. After all, she still had Ember to look forward to, and she didn't know how much healing she'd need for that.

"I'm fine, everything is okay." She said her voice still soft. "The lights went out for quiet hours like usual, so it must be morning now. Everyone else retreated to their rooms too, so I pulled you back here." She knotted her fingers together. "But since we're awake now, the others probably are too... and Damion..." Her voice hung in her throat for a second. She didn't mean for it to sound so selfish. " I mean, we should probably see if the food is still out there, We didn't eat at all yesterday and we need to keep our strength up." She backpedaled a bit, but it was still true, her stomach was growling now just at the thought of eating, and she had to press her hand against her abdomen to quiet it.

She hovered around as Rezia got up, ready to help him at any moment, remembering the state he'd been in last night, chewing on her lip anxiously. As they exited the room, she noticed that everyone was already out. Well, almost everyone, as Delirium seemed to be scurrying back to her room with a stack of books in her arms. Thankfully. Lydia didn't know how well she could handle being near the red-head after what she'd done to her. Revulsion at her own actions rose in her gut for a moment but it was quickly quelled at the thought of food.

Though...if she was wise, she'd wait until after Ember finished her task to eat, so she didn't risk vomiting or anything if the pain became too bad. She didn't need that on top of everything else. Then, her eyes located Damion, who was in the room that had just opened last night, presumably heading to eat. She turned to her brother, her mouth a small o, but there were no words in her mouth to speak.

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Character Portrait: Lydia Character Portrait: Katherine Delirium Character Portrait: Ember Character Portrait: Rezia Character Portrait: Whispers Character Portrait: Damion
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[justify]Rezia smiled for his sister though he didn't really feel like smiling. The nightmare wasn't truly over after all. The two of them were stuck here with four other individuals that would easily overwhelm them. The cards were stacked against them and always had been. He was in such a state that moment that he... he just wanted to give up. He wanted to curl up on the bed and forget the world, Sam, this whole hell hole, and everyone in it. But then there was Lydia. He couldn't give up. He needed to keep her safe. If it weren't for her, he wouldn't have cared about anything. He would have been a lifeless doll for Sam who couldn't even spare his own emotions. There was work to be done however.

"No. Don't heal me. You have enough to worry about. And food... yeah we need food," he mused softly. He was drained and they both needed some type of nourishment. And of course there was Damion to worry about. He couldn't let Damion eat no mater what happened. Even if Delirium didn't help him, Rezia would do whatever it took. His sympathy and empathy for Damion couldn't get in the way of protecting his sister from Sam and the atrocities he would do to her should he fail his task. Rezia slowly got to his feet than so his head wouldn't make him topple over and followed his sister out of the room.

Rezia noticed Delirium first and watched as she hurried back to her room with the books. He hadn't realized how much she liked reading apparently. He turned his gaze and noted that Ember was talking to Whispers but that wasn't what caught his attention. Damion was there. Damion was reaching for the glorious feast that lay before him. Rezia felt like his heart was about to stop. He was going to fail. He was going to fail and Delirium and Whispers were both there. They could have stopped him and they hadn't. So much for teamwork. Without thinking, Rezia rushed forward, his own pain far from his mind. Before Damion could lift the food he had picked up to his lips, Rezia had tackled him to the ground and the food had fallen to the ground.

"No! Don't!" he cried, his eyes wide in panic. "Damion! You can't eat! Please! That is my task and if you eat, Lydia suffers! She won't be able to heal you or Ember and so you will also loose an ally!" he begged, hoping to reason with the man. Rezia had never realized how physical he could be. It had never come up before and though Damion was much stronger and experienced in fighting, Rezia still had attacked. Maybe he was more violent than he gave himself credit for. "Please don't eat." Yup. More violent but obviously still pretty pathetic.