mystic 7

[14:45:32] As the excitement of training faded, exhaustion set in. Quinn's entire body ached, but her mind was at ease. The outburst of activity soothed her, placated the ticking bombs in her head.

On the way out of the training grounds, Quinn stopped at a nearby pond. She sat down on the waterside and cupped the pondwater in her hands, splashing it on her face. It felt nice but the water grew hot on contact with her skin. Her body temperature was at feverish highs, and her heart was still pounding.

She needed to calm down.

After a moment of rest on the ground, she stands up and begins to derobe.
(Quinn)
[14:49:48] In her underwear, Quinn steps into the pond, feeling it soothe the burning rash on her arms and the ache of her limbs. She walks to the deepest part of the pond and sits, where the water reaches her shoulders.

It's calming. The excitement was finally beginning to slow down, lapped up by the calm still of the water. Quinn closes her eyes, and she rests.

But it's not enough. The world around her is so loud, full of incessant noise: birds, the distant hustle of the city, the babble of the nearby stream that leads into the ocean. Each little piece of noise grates Quinn until she can't stand it anymore, and her eyes snap open with irritation.

She needs to leave. She needs to go somewhere where there's no noise, nothing at all - just her.
(Quinn)
[14:53:13] And then she remembers her encounter with Janus. The neries had her hand in their grip, and her mana was draining, being siphoned to the girl's own. Quinn had become so aware of her own self in that moment that, for a brief second, she was somewhere else.

She could remember it, but barely. There was no air, nothing, just her and the water, pure and clean. Could she go there again?

Quinn dips her head back, stretches her arms out, and raises her legs. She's bobbing atop the surface of the water, her skin exposed to the setting sun. She closes her eyes and focuses.

She can feel the beating of her heart, hear the blood rushing through her veins. Elsewhere, quiet, beneath it the beating of her heart and the rush of blood and the roar of thoughts, was a murmur. The very essence of her soul twisted and twirled in a place unknown, there, but not really - not unless she wanted it to be.
(Quinn)
[14:57:29] Quinn wrapped her mind around that feeling. The murmur, the whisper of her spirit drew her forth, and she embraced it. It was slow at first; she felt it first at her fingertips and her toes, where the cool water turned lukewarm. It travelled up her arms and legs, where the rust was peeled off, flaking into the water. It struck her stomach and her chest, and the feeling of hunger faded, and the air flew out of her lungs.

And then Quinn opened her eyes.

She was alone. Her bare body floated in the clear waters, where shapes immeasurable swirled and danced in front of her. There were a million voices whispering to her, a million memories, distant, unreachable. They all bobbed in the water, bubbles that she couldn't quite get to. Her outstretched arms grasped but they touched nothing but the pure water.
(Quinn)
[15:00:54] Quinn closed her eyes again.

It was quiet here, the voices stopped if she didn't listen, and if she didn't look, she didn't see them, either. The water was the right temperature, and she didn't even feel it. Quinn was floating, and there was utterly nothing to bother her.

It felt like ages that she was there, in the world of her own making. She had completely lost track of time, so much that she didn't know how long she had been in there when something startled her from her rest.

There was a noise.

A quiet hiss circled her, coming from one ear, and then the next. She tried to ignore it. If she didn't listen, it wouldn't make noise - right?

Wrong.

The hissing grew louder, and louder, and louder until it became words:

"Is Quinn lonely~? What does she desire~?"
(Quinn)
[15:03:28] Quinn opened her eyes. The snake Xiahcoatl was circling her, it's large, molten mass surrounding her in a spiral. Its head was poised back and those red eyes were staring at her.

"Let Xiahcoatl give Quinn the power that she wants~."

The snake's tongue flickered as it spoke, and its tongue stained the water black. Everything was dark except the glow of Xiahcoatl's scales and eyes as it stared her down, circling her.

Now would be a good time to wake up.
(Quinn)
[15:09:26] But she couldn't. No matter her flailing, her crying, her struggles - Quinn was stuck. The snake's coils grew closer and closer as it spiraled around her, always keeping her fixed on its eyes, on the sway of its tail.

"What would little Quinn do for power~? Would she lie? Cheat? Steal?"

Quinn gritted her teeth. She tried to move her arms but they were stuck, they wouldn't budge. She needed to leave. She wanted to leave. Xiah was growing closer now, she could feel the searing scales pressing up against her bare skin as it wrapped around her.

"What would Quinn do? Would she fight? Would she deceive?"

Xiahcoatl's body was wrapped around Quinn's. She could feel the pressure on her ribcage, the air escaping her lungs. She tried to breathe but she couldn't, because there was no air.

The beast's jaw opened. It's teeth were larger than Quinn, and down its maw she could see, hear, feel the memories that she so desperately held back. Xiahcoatl moved closer and closer, until her tongue slithered slick against Quinn's cheek.

"What would Quinn do? Would she kill?"

Everything collapsed on her at once. The jaws snapped shut. Her lungs begged for air. Her mouth opened and she breathed in the toxic water, swallowing every poison memory, every thought, every desire that she pressed back so eagerly.

And then her eyes opened.

She was in the pond, thrashing, her arms scrabbling for the surface. Quinn took hold of the edge of the pond and pulled herself up, gasping for air and coughing up the water she had swallowed.

But she did not cough up the venom inside of her.
(Quinn)