Fable - Ask The Scent of Lost Magic

[Kyril]

"Good to know, sleep well Nei..." Ky murmured as he let his head rest on the pillow.

Sleep washed over him almost as soon as he closed his eyes. His body seemed flush with weariness and exhaustion, and a dozen dreams claimed him before he could hold even a single objection.

In his sleep he saw visions of his father. The disappointment the old man had worn when he'd learned of Ky's crimes. His mother crying as she'd watched her only son flee the city. The faces of the Maester's Council as they formally expelled him.

A thousand nightmares rolled through his mind, a thousand thoughts that had plagued him since the day he left Elbion.

A dozen times during the night he woke.

Each time his skin seemed flush, a sheen of sweat clinging to him. He dragged blankets over him in an attempt to fight freezing cold, bundles his cloak around his bony body. Each time his teeth chattered, his eyes clamping shut as he tried not to see what wasn't there.

By the time dawn came Ky was a quivering ruin once more. His head ached, his stomach hurt, and his body seemed to shake with every breath that he took.

 

[Neith]

The first sleepless night of many, she supposed. She watched him toss and turn, listened to him groan and grind his teeth, certain she could hear his bones rattle as he shivered.

When he awoke he had her blankets atop him too, and she sat wiping at his clammy brow with a wet rag. "You need to try and relax.." she told him calmly, the way he was shaking he was only going to give himself more pain to deal with.

"I made you tea.." she added, studying his gaunt and ghostly features. Honestly, she wasn't entirely sure if he would make it through this with how frail he was, how little magic he had left in his blood. She pushed the thought away and sighed..

 

[Kyril]

Kyril looked up at her.

There was a misery to his gaze that was almost impossible to describe. His gaunt features appeared more hollow now than they had before, his eyes sunken, his cheekbones prominent, his skin as pale as the white of his sheets.

He shivered as she stepped closer, offering the tea to him. His head seemed to dip in a nod, teeth chattering as he tried to reply. "I-I-i..."

The words didn't form well on his tongue, his throat dry.

"C-cold." He bit out, his skeletal hands wrapping around the blankets in a desperate attempted to somehow bundle himself up even more tightly.

Ky wanted to say a thousand things. Wanted to beg for her to just give him the Lyrum, to make it stop, but he knew it was only the start. Soon he wouldn't even be able to think, just wale and cry in pain.

Slowly his hand reached out from beneath the blanket, grabbing after the cup of tea. He brought it up to his lips, not caring of the drink scalded his throat as he desperately tried to quench his own thirst.

 

[Neith]

"I know... I know.." she cooed quietly, her hand covering his as he led the cup to his lips, ensuring he didn't spill it everywhere with his shaking. "I've adde more wood to the fire. You'll be warm soon." Probably far too warm, and she'd be dousing the flames and throwing open the window.

She would have to ensure they had a decent cabin on board the ship. She'd pay the captain in a ruby if she had to, but they needed a room with a hearth and a lock on the door. She wished she'd had sleep powder with her. She could have put him to sleep over and over and let him sleep through the entire thing. But, she didn't, and they were both going to have to endure what she had already helped her father through, and the thought of doing it all over again was nauseating.

Neith continued to go over his face with the damn cloth, the sweat blooming again almost straight away. There was going to be nothing left of him.

 

[Kyril]

He nodded his head, the shiver never subsiding even as the warmth she had promised washed over the room.

Sweat sheened across his brow almost the second that her towel wiped it away, his whole body seeming determined to wipe out any water within him. His sunken features twisted in pain every time he moved, muscles aching and bones protesting as he tried to at least sit up a little bit.

"W-what t-t-time? Ky asked through chattering teeth.

He did not know how long he'd slept, nor could he really make out the sun from his position on the bed. The time of day was important though. He knew the Dukes schedule in and out, when the man did what, why he did it.

At noon he would check the vault, covet all the gold he had stolen and ensure it had not been touched by any of his servants.

It would be soon after that things would explode if his illusion did not hold.

He hoped it would, knew that it did not Neith would likely have to leave him behind. Ky thought he could barely stand, much less be able to run if it was called for.

 

[Neith]

Her features were awash with consternation at how frail he was already. Honestly, she wasn't entirely sure he'd survive it. She sighed as she stood from his bedside and went to the window, parting the curtain to squint up at the sky and check the shadows of the posts on the docks..

"Just after noon.." she murmured, the ship they were boarding already in the docks with people carrying crates and barrels back and forth along it's gangplank. She opened the window for the chattering raven, and poured a fresh cup of water for Kyril.

"So far so good.." she smirked gently as she sat back down, moving the tea aside and pressing the cup of water into his hands. "You need to drink."

 

[Kyril]

"G-g-good." He stammered out quietly, pulling the blanket back just a bit as she saw down besides him and offered the cup of water into his hands.

Gripping it was hard, but he managed to wrap his fingers around it and bring it to his lips. A shiver ran through his spine, the cool liquid flowing down his throat and seeming to burn. A long breath left his lungs a second later, head swimming.

He shivered for a moment.

"Y-you k-know." Ky tried desperately to draw his mind away from the pain, the ache in his stomach. He tried to think of something else, tried to shift his focus away from the growing demand that was rising in his head. "I-i-it's very rare for mages to get sick."

Colds, flus and all the like were almost non-existent among those who could do magic. "My f-father spent y-years trying to understand w-why."

He took another sip of water.

 

[Neith]

Again she held onto the cup to keep it steady as he drank, her brow furrowed at his shivering.. "I can't say I've ever really thought about it, but I suppose.. I think I'm a little different, but it's not normal illnesses that make me sick, it's magic itself.." her head tilted. "I'm sure your father would love to study me.." she snorted, and quickly added. "My, magic that is.." her head shook.

 

[Kyril]

"I-I'm sure he would." He said with a shivering smile touching his face.

Ironically, his father had treated many of his patients with more kindness and care than he had ever offered Kyril himself. Those whom he had studied were precious, few and far in between. His son had just been an extension of himself.

Another way to succeed.

"It's v-very unique." Ky himself was only capable of College Magic, and branches of it that he himself had discovered. His abilities lay within the fact that he had a mind for the study, and once...a nearly endless circuit of magic in his veins. It was different than her own abilities, those were more natural. "H-he wrote a p-aper on something similar once."

His eyes squeezed shut, trying to remember. "I f-forget m-most of it."

 

[Neith]

Her brow quirked with curiosity, but the strain on his face from trying to remember had her shaking her head at him. "You can remember later and tell me all about it." she half smirked and huffed. "Fuck you're a sorry sight." her head shook slowly as she looked him over whilst still attentively trying to make him drink.

"How long have you used Lyrum for, exactly?.." she enquired with a tilt of her head and her eyes slightly narrowed. His body must have been well used to the substance by now, but whether or not it was going to cope without it at all was another matter..

She could still get him an alternative drug, but it would only solve one problem by creating another, and so she didn't speak on the thought.

 

[Kyril]

For a moment Ky hesitated, a powerful shiver running through his whole body.

He shook so violently that he nearly knocked the cup from Neith's hands. Fingers clutched at the bed for a moment, and he took in a deep breath to try and steady himself just a bit. His stomach growled, though he wasn't hungry.

"T-two years." It was not a long time, not for an ordinary user of Lyrum.

It took mages years to get where he was now, a decade sometimes. Yet there was a reason that Kyril was in this state, and that was the amount of the drug that he had taken over those two years.

His eyes squeezed shut for a moment, another breath drawing into his lungs.

As soon as his lids fell his head felt woozy, and odd sort of dizzy spell casting over his head as barely held himself up.

 

[Neith]

Neith held her grip on the cup with one hand and set a steadying hand on his shoulder. She winced at his answer, knowing fine well how much he must have used to have depleted his own magic in two short years. Her jaw tightened and she sighed at him. "We still have a few hours before we have to get moving. I can give you something to help you sleep until then.." she frowned.

"This, isn't goin' to get any easier for some time, Kyril." she told him honestly, but she was sure he'd know it too.

 

[Kyril]

Ky frowned for a moment, a thousand answers running through his mind.

The pain was already there, the dull ache in his stomach, his arm, the craving in his chest. Sleep sounded good, it sounded nice. Passing the time while unconscious was tempting...but it would also mean that if the Duke did realize...he would be nothing but dead weight.

Slowly his head shook. "N-no."

He told her.

"I-if the D-duke figures out..." Ky trailed off for a moment. "B-better I stay a-wake. In c-case."

He glanced towards the window in silent answer. "I c-can take the p-p-pain."

Almost as if on cue a stinging ache seemed to stab into his stomach, as though a lance was piercing through his flesh. Ky let out a whimpering cry, doubling over against the blanket and curling in on himself.

 

[Neith]

She frowned at his answer gave a quiet huff.. "They're not goin' to know you're here even if they do figure it out."

Her jaw clenched and she sat the cup down as he doubled over and she went to her bag to rummage through it quickly. Neith dealt in more than just Lyrum. She'd become a bit of a herbalist. Her father had joked with her about being a healer one day when he'd been in a similar situation to Kyril.

White willow bark, cloves, and tumeric were tossed into a cup and when the water was heated enough she took the tea to him. "There's nothing magic about this and it should help with the pain and cramps.." she told him as she set it down and tried to help him into a sitting position.

"I'm goin' to get on your nerves, and you're goin' to hate me, but I'm tryin' to help.."

 

[Kyril]

As she helped him up Kyril wanted to make a joke about already hating her, but the pain lanced through his stomach a second time as he opened his mouth to speak. It came in quick waves, stabbing, piercing, and then suddenly shifting until his eyes bulged.

Ky turned his head away, and then suddenly bucked half over the bed.

He tore himself from Neith's grasp.

Bile spilled from his mouth onto the floor, his fingers clutching at the end of the mattress as he desperately tried not to get vomit all over the bed and Neith herself.

For a second after it stopped he lingered then, then pulled himself back. He gave her a pitiful look, then quietly murmured. "Think that might go the other way around."

 

[Neith]

"Mh.." she groaned as she stepped back and rubbed at her face. Why was she doing this again? Normally she was the type to have taken that bag of gems whilst he slept, perhaps leaving him one or two, and been out of here. But she knew what he was going through, and how much harder it was going to get. She thought of her father and how much he'd needed her.

"S'alrigh'.." she shrugged, giving a weak smile at the look he gave her, tossing a towel down to mop up the puddle of bile before she sat down again, and pressed the tea to his lips without letting him hold the cup at all. "Just drink. It'll help with the pain."

 

[Kyril]

Ky looked down at the tea.

Even thinking of drinking it made him want to vomit again. Lips thinned for a brief moment, and he looked down at the cup for a moment before slowly reaching out and grabbing it. A breath flew over it, and then with slow child like sips he began to drink.

He had no idea if it it would work, but right now he was neither in a position to argue, nor did he really have the energy to do so.

Eventually with Lyrum withdrawals that would turn itself around. There would be spikes of manic energy, desperation kicking in, his body fighting and throwing him through every ringer to try and get the drug, but he wasn't there yet.

For now he would remain in his misery.

At least until the sun set and they got onto their ship. The next few hours were much the same as the first, broken conversation, half spoken words, until finally the sun set and the time came.

 

[Neith]

Neith remained at hand, making him drink, trying to convince him to eat, not that it'd stay down. He looked like he was physically wasting away before her eyes.

By the time the sun had set, Neith was stood by the window, the bags and gems ready to be saddled. She'd slipped out earlier in the day to secure their cabin and pay a little extra for a decent sized one. She watched the cargo be loaded in and the deckhands make her ready. The Sea Stag, the ship was called. With another look up the street, everything seemed...normal. There had been no calls of alarm, no marching guards, nothing out of the ordinary at all.

"Alright.." she murmured and lifted Kyril's cloak, and the fire poker. "You'll be masqueradin' as an elderly man until you get on the ship. We don't want anyone seein' you boardin' a ship for Elbion." she huffed. At least he didn't have to try hard to look weak and frail..

 

[Kyril]

Kyril nodded, his legs dangling off the side of the bed, head woozy and breath barely slipping into his lungs. "T-think I can do t-that."

Gods.

Why was it so hard to talk? Why was it so hard to think. It was like he could barely function. He felt like he had eaten and thrown up a dozen times. Drank his body weight in water and then rid himself of it all in the same hour.

A part of him wasn't entirely sure he could even make it to the boat. He felt so weak, so pathetic. Yet Neith stood there, her face expectant. His fingers tightened on the edge of the bed, and he allowed a breath to be dragged into his lungs.

Slowly he pushed himself up, nearly stumbling as he did so. He caught himself with his foot placed quickly forward, then shambled towards Neith.

He felt the cloak wrap around himself, the warmth of the cloth feeling almost good about himself.

"Y-you do the talking." Ky said, a small smile touching his lips. "T-think I-I-I sound too y-youthful to be an old man."

It was a jest, a poor one, but it was all he could manage.

 

[Neith]

Neith smirked at his jest and shook her head. "I've already done all of the talking, everything is ready." she told him. "All we have to do is get on the ship."

Neith carried everything other than the gems. Those, she made sure Kyril would manage underneath his cloak and made him hunch over a little, holding onto his arm to guide him out into the street with the fire poker to use as a walking stick. Sage followed lazily after them, and she glanced up to ensure that Rok was circling overhead.

"Captain." Neith dipped her chin to a stout, white-haired man on the docks who gave her a particularly warm smile. She had paid him quite significantly. "Is my father's cabin ready?" she asked sweetly, gesturing to the apparently old man on her arm.

"Aye o'course lass. Mitch will show ye the way! Welcome about Miss, yer father too." he tipped his hat, and called for Mitch, a young deck hand who collected Neith's bags from her insistently.

 

[Kyril]

Ky clutched to Neith, though it wasn't to offer any sense of authenticity to his cover. The truth was that he was sure the moment she let him go he would collapse into a heap of bone and skin. His entire body seemed eager to give out, his legs aching and his feet stinging with every step.

It took every little bit of his strength to carry him forward, to see him onto the pier. His head half turned to look at the Captain, peering out from beneath his hood to take in the man's features.

As soon as he glanced back Ky lowered his head, shifting against Neith just a little bit more. A couch echoed from his throat, the heavy wracking of his throat seemingly drawing others gaze. He earned a few pitying looks, but most just ignored him.

Mitch appeared overly eager, a smile on his face.

"This way, beautiful."​

He said with a sweep of his hand, arms laden with her things. Ky perked an eyebrow and was about to make a quip when another spike of pain launched through his stomach. He winced, his grip tightening on Neith's arm as the firepoker thunked against the wood.

A breath filled his lungs, then slowly he trudged up the gangplank alongside his companion.

 

[Neith]

"This way, beautiful."

Her jaw tightened and she bit her tongue as she followed after the deck hand, keeping a firm grip on Kyril and moving at a slow pace to ensure he didn't stumble.

The cabin they were shown to had belonged to a rather disgruntled first mate, a broad and grizzly looking fellow who stood outside it, his arms folded with a scowl of scrutiny on his face as he observed the two. He didn't say anything, he'd been warned not to, but the captain had obviously thought the ruby she'd given him worth his second man's eviction.

Neith offered a 'what the fuck are you looking at?' sort of a look, and the man strode off, muttering under his breath as he loudly descended the steps to the lower deck. The cabin was roomy enough, with two portholes, a large bed and some comfortable if not a little frayed furniture.

"Home sweet." she murmured as she pushed the door closed behind them.

 

[Kyril]

Kyril struggled not to throw up on the deck of the ship a few times as they crossed it. His head was woozy, every step causing his world to spin. The only thing that kept him upright was clinging onto Neith's arm, and the 'cane' she had given him.

By the time they reached the cabin Ky was all but ready to collapse.

The short distance between the ship and the Inn had all but wiped him out, and he was thankful for the reprieve of the bed that Neith guided him over to. He practically fell onto it, catching himself and taking in a shaky breath as he ripped the hood away from his face.

"T-t-think no one noticed." He chattered.

Reprieve entered his voice for only a brief second, before he slowly leaned back against the wall of the cabin.

He sat there for a moment, his head lulling back and forth, eyes closed. "Thank you."

Ky murmured quietly to Neith.

 

[Neith]

She shook her head in response to his chattering, and opened the porthole for the tapping raven as he struggled to perch onto the ledge. "Don't think so." she answered and threw off her cloak before helping Kyril out of his and taking the bag of gems she'd hung over his shoulder, patting them carefully.

"Looks like we're home dry.." she smirked, but the smirk fell as her eyes settled on him, the state he was in. "Well. We're on our way there, at least." she muttered quietly, hearing the Captain's calls. They'd be setting off shortly.

"At least we have some decent space." she shrugged, and had already started tidying things away.

 

[Kyril]

What was it with her and cleaning? Every time Ky sat and stopped for a little moment he felt like Neith started to tidy things up.

Perhaps it was a nervous impulse, something she felt she needed to do in order to have some control over the environment she was in. His lips thinned for a brief moment as he watched her, eyes flickering between open and closed as he struggled to remain awake.

The pain had subsided into a dull ache for now, but he knew it could change again at any time. "I-i've stayed in worse places."

He really hadn't.

Most of his life had been spent in the lap of luxury. Accommodations either paid for by his father or the College itself.

There was a sudden shake of the entire ship as it suddenly pulled itself free from the Pier, and almost as soon as it rocked free...alarm bells began to ring in the center of the city.