Black Out [Open]

[Serah]

15th day of Spring 512 AV Serah had begun to feel lightheaded and nauseous. She moved her hands in front of her eyes and that was when alarm started to turn to panic. Serah had black spots in the corners of her vision and the motion of her hands passing in front of her eyes was a blur. She continued to walk into the city of Alvadas, following what she thought to be the main road and looking at the queer and outlandish buildings in a deranged type of marvel. Something was wrong with her... The buildings all around her seemed to shift and morph into different things. The roads were curving in and out sometimes narrow and straight, other times large and round. The lack of food and drink was getting to her, she was overcome with dizziness and a a sudden wrenching started to tug at the pit of her stomach. Serah found it increasingly difficult to blink, her lids heavier with every step she took. The weight of an anvil was dragging her down, yet she continued her painstaking march through the ever changing city before her. A few hours ago she had been just fine, but now, her heart pounded against her chest, her eyes slowly starting to cloud over, a misty red haze dragging her into deep and dark depths. She knew her mind was playing games with her; she knew that in reality the buildings were there; solid and grounded, but now they seemed to shift restlessly. The urge to heave was incredibly strong now, the wrenching in her gut getting worse by the second. It had been close to two days since she'd had a good meal or drink. The trade ship she had sailed here to, had offered her no food, and wasn't going to when she threatened to cut off one of their fellow sailor's bulge with her dagger. Surrounded by nothing but seawater, and with her waterskin empty, she had been to afraid to go and ask for a drink to any of the sailors. When she had landed, she traveled as fast as she possibly could to get to Alvadas and she never looked back, never stopped to eat or drink, not even for a brief rest. The City of Illusions was burned into her mind, her sole goal at that given moment being to get there as soon as she could. But now, she deeply regretted it. Her last thought was of her giving into the darkness, her lids closing for good.The image of her mother's killer, laughing at her, at how weak she was was all too vivid in her mind. His resonating laugh clear as crystal in her ear, was almost soothing at this point. She barely heard the soft thud as her tiny body hit the floor...

[Kiou]

Kiou strolled casually down the winding streets of Alvadas, passing some of the city's denizens as he did so. He had just returned from yet another of his many outings into the surrounding wilderness that encompassed the City of Illusion, outings that he realized were becoming more and more common as of late. He didn't exactly mind, though, and thoroughly enjoyed the time he spent out side the confining walls of this city. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice when he passed by one of the other travelers of this particular street who appeared to be swaying and stumbling strangely along, and when he stopped to process the strangeness of that which he witnessed out of the corner of his vision, he decided to take a quick glance behind him at the figure, and turned just in time to see the girl crumple to the ground in a heap. He abruptly stopped in his tracks, nearly bumping into another citizen in the act, and earned himself a few harsh words not exactly worth repeating. He moved quickly to the girls side, bending down to get a better idea as to what might be wrong. She didn't smell of any sickness, so he ruled that out as a probable cause for the sudden collapse, and he certainly couldn't smell the strong scent of alcohol on her, though he did catch a brief whiff of it as some large, obviously drunk, man on stumbled past, mumbling something incomprehensible, so he knew that she hadn't collapsed as a result of intoxication, as he had seen many foolish drunks do in the past. He could tell that she still lived, however, by the shallow breaths she took every now and then, though just barely. He had to do something, though he honestly had no idea what to actually do, let alone how to actually help, for he knew next to nothing about sickness and the like, or how to treat it. Instead, he tentatively laid a hand on her shoulder, and asked the stupidest question he could. "Are you ok?" he asked, obviously expecting no answer, already knowing the answer long before the words had ever left his mouth. Of course she wasn't alright; she had just fainted in the middle of the road. That counted as far from ok, though Kiou simply didn't knew what to say in such a situation, instead simply asked the first dumb question that came to mind. He mentally berated himself for such incompetence at such a time, but it was all he could do, at least until he figured out the problem. He had never had to deal with something such as this, and had hoped he would never have had to. Seemed these so-called gods were determined to prove his theories wrong, one way or another.

[Serah]

Surrounded in utter darkness other than a narrow corridor dimly lit by torches, Serah strolled forward. The pain she had gone through earlier had vanished. He head someone calling her name, "Serah,... Serah, come here baby girl, we're waiting for you." She continued forward, unsure of herself. He saw her father appear, by a heavy oak door, wrought with black bands of iron. Her father ushered her in, where she saw her mother smiling, sitting down in a chair. Never in her life had Serah felt so happy. She was completely overwhelmed, streaks of tears running from her breathtaking amber eyes. She looked like a child who'd lost her mommy and daddy, running to embrace them both. "Where are we?" the question aimed more towards her mother than her father, "where's Tristan why isn't he here with us?" her tone had gone from calm to exasperated when neither of her beloved parents had answered her. They merely stared at her blatantly, their lips hard as they gawked at her. She waited, but nothing came, her mere streaks of tears turning into running rivers as she cried her heart out. "Why won't you talk to me?!" she cried, desperately wanting to hear some sort of response. Brianna, her mother opened her mouth and taking her weeping daughter into her arms. They sat on the colorless and cold floor, her mother caressing her dark blonde hair and whispering in her ear,"Baby girl, it's not your time yet. The Gods have other plans for you..." She stared up at her mother's warm green eyes and for a second she felt safe again, in this sweet mother's embrace. "Are you ok?" Her eyes opened to see a handsome boy, with dirty blonde hair and light green eyes. He looked completely dumbfounded and lost. Her throat was drier than she'd ever felt, yet sweat and dirt matted her flowing blonde hair. The wrenching in her stomach had subsided, but was slowly creeping back, the darkness threatening to take her back once more. She tried to open her mouth and speak, but all that came out was a hoarse croak that sounded something like "-at..er". She desperately longed for the cool transparent liquid now to soothe her pain, and hoped that the boy would understand. The red haze was slowly returning and she feared she had little to no time left...

[Kehor Kev]

Kehor, coming out of the bar, The Sun and Stars Tavern, heading for the gate. Along the way, he past an alleyway and looked down it. On the far side was a woman on the ground and a man that just started running for her. Noticing that something was wrong int the man's eyes, he started to run to him.

Once he arrived, he saw the problem right away. The woman had blanked out and was on the doorstep of death. He asked the man, "Have you gone for help?," forgetting that the man arrived there moments before he did...

[Kiou]

Kiou was immensely relieved when he noticed the girl's eyes flutter open at last, and returned her gaze curiously, though the worry was still clearly etched across his handsome features. Before he could utter another of the endless stupid questions that suddenly popped into his head at that moment, he heard the girl utter something aloud, though it sounded more like a dying animal than any words. He did, however, understand what she was pleading for, though not simply because she had asked for it. He knew she was asking for water by the way he throat cracked under the stress of speaking aloud, though he was also accredited the notion thanks to the fact of his superior hearing, which allowed him to hear, but just barely, the broken plea for water. He went to get to his feet to go in search of said water, though uttered a quick, "Hold on," before he was caught off guard by the approach of another man, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere. He briefly shifted his gaze to the man, and instantly felt apprehension about the man, who seemed to be somewhere near his age, though it was difficult to be certain. He had felt the feeling before, after meeting another kelvic, a canine, though this time, it felt slightly different, as if this man was more feral, even if it didn't outwardly show. He wanted to study the man more closely, but he had more pressing matters at hand, and decided that he would put his growing uneasiness away, at least for the time being. Kiou tore his gaze from the stranger, instead casting about them in an attempt to find some nearby source of water for the girl, as he could already tell that she was slipping back into unconsciousness. "No time," he stated simply at the man's unnecessary question, for he was sure the stranger had glimpsed him walking over the fallen girl moments before, but he kept his tone polite, difficult as it was at the time. "Would you know where to find any water in this petching city?" He found his answer just as he uttered the last syllable of his question, catching sight of some passerby, and the water skin securely tied to his belt. "Gotcha..." he muttered, more to himself than anyone else, and sprinted towards the unsuspecting man, drawing the small gladius that was sheathed at his side, reaching his open hand into his pocket, only to withdraw it seconds later, having found what he was searching for. He came upon the man seconds later, and figured he must have made an imposing sight indeed, sprinting towards the man at full speed, sword drawn, and he prayed to what ever god would heed him that the man wouldn't get the wrong impression and strike out at him, for he knew it was a risky move, but he didn't have the time to coax the man into selling it to him, for he knew the man would try to haggle a higher price, as would most people in such a situation. Kiou flicked his blade out in a deft movement, hoping the man was slow to react so as not to move, and was relieved when the small piece of rope attaching the skin to the man's round waist was severed cleanly, and in almost a single movement, threw what he had in his open hand into the air, a small, silver Miza, and quickly grabbed the skin just as it hit the cobbled ground below. "Sorry!" he called behind him at the startled man, already sprinting back to the fallen girl. When he came upon the girl and the strange man once again, he slid to a halt, quickly slipping the virtually unused but useful blade back into it's sheath before kneeling back down at the girls side. "Hold her head up...please," he added, glancing quickly at the man before looking down at his newly obtained water skin, quickly opening it. He was relieved when he found actual water inside, for he had been worried that it might be full of alcohol, which certainly wouldn't help the situation. Once the skin was opened and he was contented that it actually contained clean water, he shifted his attention back to the girl, and noted with a hint of dread that she was slowly starting to slip back in the dark realm of unconsciousness, perhaps for good, if they didn't act soon.

[Serah]

Serah felt the presence of people around her, she couldn't tell if it was two or three or maybe even four. A cacophony of sounds rang in her ears, it was as if everything was amplified. Her head hurt and she could feel a wetness behind her ear where she had fallen. Eventually the voices, questions and shouts all disappeared, leaving only a cold ringing in her ears. She felt so stupid for not having stopped at least once to rest, drink and eat, but the thought was quickly dispelled as she thought of the man who had beaten and raped and strangled her mother. She swore that she could see the mind lurking in the shadows wherever she and her brother went. And now that she had been travelling alone, the fear and insecurity had only gotten worse. The voices came back, this time Serah could make out the words "hold...her..", before the ringing began to bleed out the rest of the sound once more. She could feel someone lifting her slowly, and just as they did, a pain of agony shot straight through the side of her skull. She wanted to cry, but no moisture fell from her dried eyes...

[Kehor Kev]

Knowing that the woman needed a doctor, he told the other man, " I saw the medical center, Ionu's Mercy, around the corner." Seeing him nod, Kehor sprinted off in the direction of the building.

Getting there in a less then a minuet, he burst through the door yelling, " We need help!" Attracting the attention of some of the medical staff, he explained what he knew. Telling them the directions to the girl, he decided to find more water then what was in the water-skin. Going to The Bizarre, he bought a jug for 3 cm and went to a well, filled it and hurried back to the girl.

Finding the town was changing, he had to take the long way back.

[Kiou]

Kiou briefly looked up from the girl at the stranger as he spoke quickly before sprinting off in search of something called Ionu's Mercy, before shifting his green eyes back to the fallen girl, shaking his head slightly. There was no time for fetching doctors; if he didn't help her now, she would likely die. That much he knew for certain. He slowly lifted her head from the ground with his free hand, while his other hand moved the water skin to her dry and cracked lips. He lifted the water skin slightly, allowing only a small trickle of water to pass through her lips, for now at least. He didn't want her choking or throwing up from to much water in such a short expanse of time. Kiou scowled slightly as he felt a something wet in the girls hair, and he was almost entirely certain that it wasn't water. "Drink slowly," he advised softly, not sure what else to say at the moment. Well, this has turned out to be an eventful day so far, he mused to himself as he watched to make sure the girl didn't choke on the water.