Envy heaved a heavy sigh, his eyes on the assassin. "I don't know yet." He admitted before lifting his eyes to the Shadow Elf. "It may be more complicated than I originally thought, Taris." He came forward and stood tall over Aera, his expression showing some of his concern. "I can't say for sure. Not yet. But I can." He glanced back up at Taris. "I can manipulate minds pretty well. I don't like to, but I can. I taught Ru..." he stopped. "If they did what I think they did... with the two of them... it may make her more difficult to ... save."

He lifted the heels of his hands to his eyes and groaned. "Chances are, they used him to break her, he had to get into her mind. To do their bidding, to save his life, to try to help her, I don't know for which reason. But if she killed him while he was in there, chances are..... he still is." He lowered his hands again and stared down at the pale face in the bed. She looked so peaceful.

The Kartaian stared down at her, his mind racing, trying to figure out how to best explain it. "Ruli will respond well to me, if I manage to find him inside her head. At least he should. I see no reason why he wouldn't. Aera, on the other hand.... there's a chance my presence would do more harm than good." He sighed again. "Its hard to say. But the longer his essence stays in her head, the less chance we have of getting her back to who she was before."

Envy stood over her and stared for a long moment, letting Taris filter what he'd said, while his own mind raced through what options he had. "Hold her hands..." He said suddenly, bending down. Taris raised an eyebrow and hesitated, Envy's previous words making him pause. The Kartaian grabbed his hands and pulled them above Aera's head, lifting her arms to make Taris grasp them. "Hold onto her, this is the best chance we have at the moment." He put his knee beside her hip on the mattress and cupped her face in his hands as he pressed his forehead to hers. His dark lips moved as he mouthed silent words.

Aera strained and pulled against Taris arms, her body tensing and twisting. Envy gracefully adjusted and swung his leg over her, sitting on her to keep her still. A noise that resembled a growl came from her throat and her eyes snapped open to glare at the elf above her. She hissed and writhed.
"Envy!" Taris snapped, but the Kartaian ignored him, flexing to put more weight on Aera. She let out a scream that died down as her body relaxed, her eyes closing again. Her body went limp again, though after a few uncertain seconds she planted her feet and bucked her hips and, with strength that wasn't her own, tossing Envy off of her. He fell from the bed and knocked his head against the bedside table, spilling the water Taris had brought earlier. The elf swore and rubbed his head while Aera glared down at him. Wordlessly she glared at Taris and kicked at him until he released her. Envy knelt on the floor beside the bed as Hadhen and Russel came running into the doorway, attracted by the noise. 

Aera's nostrils flared in her anger as she looked around, her eyes narrow. Envy held up both his hands and made an odd symbol with his fingers. Aera paused and leered at him, her eyes on his hands. Then she made another with her own hands. Envy made a face. Ruli was speaking to him through Aera. 

Taris sat beside Aera, his face blank, though he was obviously a bit confused, as Envy and Ruli signed to one another. It was slow going, and every few minutes Aera would flutter her eyes and start to panic and hyperventilate until Envy grasped at her again and held her until Ruli took over again.
"When I first found Ruli..." Envy started to explain as he signed. "He couldn't speak a single word. So we started communicating with our hands.... It seems he's forgotten a lot of it." He went quiet, his face growing serious. "I'm asking about Aera, where she was, if he knew what happened..." Aera moved her fingers, hesitantly from time to time, as Rulitus' essence in her head spoke back. "He says he can smell flowers. And moss. And there's a woman..." He blinked and signed faster. "I don't know where that is... Ruli, what... who is she?"

Without warning, Aera screamed and flung her arm out, knocking Envy in the face. He swore and leaned back, his hand over his nose. "Grab her!" he shouted, and Taris' hands shot out with impressive speed to grasp at her wrists. She writhed and kicked, calling for Ezra again as she pulled against Taris' grip. Tears leaked from her eyes and she gasped as Envy threw his hand against her face, holding her forehead. Immediately, she went limp again, whatever he'd done acting fast. 

He exhaled, holding his bleeding, broken nose. Gritting his teeth, her pressed his fingers to his skin and pressed, clicking his nose back to its original position. "She's always been good at that..." he grumbled, blowing the blood from his nose before picking up the wet cloth Taris had been using earlier. "I won't try that again." He sighed. [i]Probably shouldn't have done that this time[/i]..... He squared his jaw and thought. "Aera is hiding. Terrified." he told Taris, sitting at the foot of the bed to gaze at Aera. "Even he was afraid, so her fear... its alarming. He said he could feel where she was. Could smell flowers. Moss. Stone. Butterflies. And something about a woman, holding water, and feeding the tr-" he paused. "I know what he's talking about. Its a statue, in the forest where she grew up. Theres a marble statue of Our Mother. She told me once she used to hide her treasures beneath it." He glanced over at Envy, still holding his throbbing nose. "If you need to get into her head to find her, that'd be where she is."