[center][table][row][cell][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/FU0fkcN.png[/img][/center][/cell][/row]
[row][cell][sub]Location: Eye of the Beholder >  Alchemy Chambers|  Collaboration with [@Echotech71][/sub][/cell][/row][/table][/center]Nesna’s smile drifted back into a wide grin as Nathaniel affirmed her presumptions as entirely true. A small giggle escaped her lips as he recalled the parchment stuck to his face. Though her eyes could scarcely show it, she caught his smirk and felt herself smile all the same. What a joy it was, to be a person, if only for a moment.

Then, Nathaniel commented on the time. Nesna shot a glance towards the doorway, and then to the potential debacle that was unfolding with Sya needing to attend to some rather eccentric blightborn fellow. In the moment, she felt the urge to find any excuse to get some distance between herself and whatever affair was brewing there. And to say nothing of the high of simply speaking as a decent person about decent and charming things!

Nesna stammered for a moment, rifling through her mind for some excuse to continue the conversation and walk with him.

[color=DDA0DD]“O—Of course!”[/color] she chirped, [color=DDA0DD]“I’d hate to keep you!”[/color]

With a bit more conversational stalling, she found the winner and began to walk towards the door slowly, doing her best to allow Nathaniel to take the lead.

[color=DDA0DD]“But if you’d oblige me, I’d gladly walk with you there. I was curious, even if it happened that I was of little use as a Sage, if I might be of any help as a test subject?”[/color] she asked.

Nathaniel's lips curled into an inviting smile at Nesna's request, yet a subtle tension flickered across his features. [colour=#C0C0C0]"You can accompany me,"[/colour] he replied, his voice warm and inviting. As he moved around her, his eyes shifted to lock onto hers, a truth that he had to reveal that could dampen the young Blight-born.

[colour=#C0C0C0]"Unfortunately, it's not my decision regarding the role you can play."[/colour] he confessed, his tone earnest and sincere. [colour=#C0C0C0]"You'll have to consult the Lead Sage about that, Lady Hightower."[/colour] A strange feeling washed over him, it felt odd addressing Eris by her title, her nobility. He made a mental note to try not to refer in that way. 

With a swift motion, he adjusted the lapels of his elegant coat, the fabric shimmering faintly in the dim light as he prepared to step into the frosty expanse outside. The chill of the climate was a foreign sensation to him, but he brushed the discomfort aside, confident that his magic would provide a shield against the biting cold, as long as he didn't push the boundaries of his magic capabilities. [colour=#C0C0C0]"Are you ready to go, Nesna?"[/colour] he asked, a hint of anticipation in his voice as he gazed out into the winter landscape, the sounds of the merchants selling their goods to the citizens while cold being merry in the activities as they engaged in conversation with other citizens.

Nesna, having already been wearing her cloak, simply affirmed her readiness, following him from the door with a cheery [color=DDA0DD]“More than ready!”[/color]

As she made her way to his side, Nesna paid little attention to the broader world around them. Her bottom eyes shut as her main pair glowed yet brighter, squinting from the breadth of her smile. Unbothered by the Sage’s cautions, she continued, flicking her hand downwards as if dismissing the entire notion.

[color=DDA0DD]“Ah, but I’m certain I can find something useful to do here,”[/color] she suggested, [color=DDA0DD]“I simply cannot thank you enough for bestowing me the opportunity to see it all. And to meet the dear Lady who is pioneering our care, what an honour!”[/color]

Nesna’s wings pressed down against her cloak, keeping it wrapped comfortably around her body as she kept pace with Nathaniel. 

[color=DDA0DD]“Or rather, have the chance to meet with her,”[/color] she conceded, [color=DDA0DD]“I would imagine she’s quite busy.”[/color]

Nesna cleared her throat and swallowed. The sound was wet and heavy, like that of someone who had been faced with a lasting cold and was trying to clear out their throat well enough to get a few words out.

[color=DDA0DD]“Pardon,”[/color] she mumbled. Nesna clicked her tongue, and then introduced another thought. [color=DDA0DD]“Well, you know, I can’t help but ask, then—if I would not be prying in doing so, anyway. Whyever would someone such as yourself trouble yourself with the research of blightborn?”[/color]

As they travelled through the brisk, charged air, a light chuckle slipped from Nathaniel’s lips at Nesna’s excitement about the chance to meet Eris. [colour=#C0C0C0]"Indeed, she is a busy person. Like all sages, she often becomes so engrossed in her work that the world around her fades away."[/colour] A warm, inviting smile danced across his face, a brief reprieve from the biting chill that enveloped them. [colour=#C0C0C0]"I had the opportunity to glimpse her once, utterly absorbed in her craft,"[/colour] he continued speaking softly, letting the memory wash over him before refocusing on Nesna, anchoring himself in the present moment. He cleared his throat, the sound cutting through the icy air.

As they walked, he rubbed his hands together vigorously, his fingers warming at the gentle touch of his magic coursing through his veins, a soothing balm against the gnawing cold. When Nesna’s voice broke through the frosty silence with her question about his interest in researching the blight, Nathaniel took a deep breath, the weight of the moment settling heavily on his chest. 

[colour=#C0C0C0]"I..."[/colour] he started, his throat tightening slightly, lips feeling parched against the chill of the air. [colour=#C0C0C0]"It's a deeply personal matter for me. I lost someone dear, someone who was dedicated to studying the blight, and they vanished without a trace."[/colour]  Each word was laced with the poignant ache of memory, reverberating in the stillness around them.

Nesna’s smile vanished in an instant, her cheery expression replaced with a dim solemnity like a candle smothered into an ember, reflected both in her lips and in how her four eyes sat together half-open and scarcely letting out more than a faint glow. Her right hand clasped tightly around her left hand, as if one gloved hand were holding the other in place.

[color=DDA0DD]“I see…”[/color] she murmured, hesitating in her words for how she’d managed to so suddenly sour the mood. She should have known better than to pry; of course nobody would simply study the Blight out of fascination alone. It was a tragic miasma that spread and touched countless lives, never in any shadow of a good way. And yet she’d so readily forgotten that there were many others who had fallen victim to it and never came back at all. 

Nesna never imagined there might be a graceful way to overcome such a blunder. Not that she wouldn’t try, but it was some small comfort knowing that the biggest mistake was in the past. 

[color=DDA0DD]“You have my sincerest condolences,”[/color] she softly offered, [color=DDA0DD]“Be they blightborn or otherwise, none deserved such a fate as to be taken by the blight.”[/color]

Nesna shook her head, softly and solemnly. It couldn’t be helped.

Even as the frigid air kissed his cheeks, transforming them into a delicate shade of rosy pink, Nathaniel remained a portrait of unease, a ghost of colour in a pallid visage. Deep within, his stomach churned with a tumult of emotions, twisting and tightening like a coiling serpent. The wound of his sister’s absence gnawed at him, a festering reminder of unhealed regrets. Unlikely, he mused, that it would ever mend. His stride faltered momentarily as though he were tethered by a forgotten weight before he pressed on, each step echoing his struggle. 

In a voice barely above a whisper, he offered, [colour=#C0C0C0]“Thank you, Nesna”[/colour] the name hanging in the air like a fragile promise. 

Flakes of snow adhered to his tousled hair, glistening like tiny stars against the dark backdrop of his thoughts. He shook his head, attempting to dislodge the haunting memory of their final confrontation, a storm of harsh words exchanged in the heat of anger. He remembered how he had accused her of being a glory-seeker, unable to accept the fact that he was chosen to confront the blight in its nascent stages. In return, she labelled him nothing more than a hollow echo of her own ambitions. Eventually, he had relented, granting her the position she desired, unaware that their bitter exchange would be the last. 

[i][colour=#C0C0C0]“I hope you get everything you deserve,”[/colour][/i]

Weeks passed, and then came the news that shattered his mother as she wept for days holding her two younger children. His father organised groups to help find out what happened to her and if they could find her. Nothing came to avail. Her group had met a grim fate, with Isabelle now missing.

As he grappled with the surge of grief, streaks of lightning began to flicker across his skin, vibrant and wild as if his own magic had awoken in protest. His body warmed under the manifest energy, simmering just beneath the surface. He cursed under his breath, noticing what was happening. With a focused breath, he centred himself, coaxing the tempest of lightning within back to a tranquil slumber.

A sigh of relief escaped his lips once he regained control over his chaotic magic. His gaze latched onto Nesna, the tension ebbing ever so slightly as he sought to navigate their conversation toward safer shores. [colour=#C0C0C0]"My apologies.[/colour] he ventured, attempting to cast aside the darkness. [colour=#C0C0C0]“How did you become Blight-born?”[/colour] he inquired, his tone shifting to one of genuine curiosity.

Nesna’s gaze had remained fixed on Nathaniel, only temporarily averted at several moments out of a hope to remain polite by pretending his distress was not so noticeable. Whatever it was specifically that had happened, clearly he had no desire to speak about it. Nesna certainly had no mind to go prying, especially not with someone who seemed somewhat endeared to her already, and with whom she would hopefully be working.

Then he asked about her condition, and she suddenly froze in place for a moment. She felt pressure in her throat and in her chest, as if a breath were trying to force its way out, despite her wrestling against letting anything out at all. Her fists clenched. As suddenly as she stopped, as the memories flashed through her mind, she let out a small squeak as the stalled exhalation won its battle to be freed.

[color=DDA0DD]“I—”[/color] her voice cracked.

[color=DDA0DD]“I—er—It was a long time ago,”[/color] she began. She cleared her throat again, and forced herself to begin speaking. He had asked, and it was salient to her potential for work. She assured herself that it was something she’d surely need to get used to.

[color=DDA0DD]“And so, euh…pardon. It’s all such a blur, these years are. Yes, ah. I must have been…oh…just shy of fifteen? Mmm…that sounds right.”[/color]

Nesna began to trail off, before shaking her head and cutting herself off.

[color=DDA0DD]“Oh, what am I saying? That’s not so important. Anyway. I was just shy of fifteen, and had fled home. Foolishly, I imagined the Blight might spare me a long death of cold. And that it wouldn’t, eh, wouldn’t take its price, so to speak. It was agony. And then it was this warm, peaceful embrace. The kind one isn’t meant to rise from. But then I did. I rose and found myself…changed. How can I even describe it? Goddess, it was like…it was like…being reborn. Only somehow wrong, unnatural. But nonetheless relieving compared to life, if only for the moment before I realized that I was not to awaken from a surreal nightmare-turned-dream. My mind knew it was wrong, even as my own body felt intimately natural, if without practice at having any use for my new appendages. How—how else can I describe it?”[/color]

The pain was overwhelmed by the depths of the puzzle. Nesna’s right hand had drifted to the side of her jaw. She scratched it slowly at varying pauses, as she tried to assemble the mess of impressions and sensations into coherent speech. 

[color=DDA0DD]“I learned to fly like a baby bird. My wings are…part of me, in that way. Though I needed some practice, I gained conscious control quickly, and then needed only to become more coordinated. All these years later, I’m still learning. My tail, if you can believe it, is the more alien appendage. It takes some fair effort to coax it into behaving according to my wishes. But when I’d first transformed, it was scarcely a priority. I flew back, and took up residence in the abandoned, walled-off servants’ quarters. And that’s about—Is it? I’m sorry, I feel I’ve perhaps drifted from the question. Does that answer the question well enough?”[/color]

Nathaniel cast a discreet glance at Nesna, the flicker of acknowledgement barely perceptible in the chill of the air. [colour=#C0C0C0]"No, that’s a commendable explanation,[/colour]” he replied thoughtfully, mentally cataloguing Nesna's response, intrigued by its potential significance. [colour=#C0C0C0]"It's often said that all Blight-born individuals possess distinct powers and unique transformations. We already have a few residents with such origins in Dawnhaven,[/colour]” he mused, taken aback by the revelation that she possessed a tail, a detail she had only divulged moments ago.

[colour=#C0C0C0]"Returning to the subject of the Sages, I'm uncertain how the others will respond to your presence. Honestly, I can’t predict how they might react to me being there either,[/colour]” he continued, his tone laced with uncertainty. [colour=#C0C0C0]"However, it’s best not to let it weigh on you; strive to be the better person."[/colour] As they walked, the crisp snow crunched beneath his boots, each step echoing softly in the stillness of the landscape, with the Alchemy chambers looming ahead in the frozen tundra. [colour=#C0C0C0]"Almost there. It’s likely that the Lead Sage is already deep in her work or preparing for the day ahead,[/colour]” he pondered, wondering if Prince Flynn was present as well or if he had chosen to be with the enigmatic Queen of Lunaria instead. Her name danced on the tip of his tongue, elusive. [colour=#C0C0C0]"Are you feeling nervous about your upcoming interview with the Prince regarding your residency here?[/colour]” he inquired, studying her.  

Nesna offered an awkward, if gracious smile at Nathaniel’s compliments, and glanced towards him on a few occasions as he spoke. As the Chambers came into view, Nesna’s attention somewhat drifted from Nathaniel. Her lips pulled inwards, almost pursing as her eyes widened and shined at the sight of it, her expression betraying her feelings as a mixture of eager, intimidated, and impressed.

[color=DDA0DD]“Without a shadow of a doubt…”[/color] Nesna murmured. She drifted off, staring at the chambers for a moment, before shaking her head, as if clearing away the thoughts so as to return to the conversation at hand.

[color=DDA0DD]“I, heh—Oh mercy me—”[/color] she sputtered, holding a fist tightly to her chest, [color=DDA0DD]“I was so [i]beside myself[/i] just yesterday about appearing a mess before royalty! A—and now? Here I am in one of my very own lovely dresses, so kindly refitted for free by…er…by a delightfully gentlemanly guard!”[/color]

Nesna brought her other fist to her chest as she gasped, as if she’d been holding in a breath behind her expressions.

[color=DDA0DD]“I—I—Oh, how could I not be? He isn’t even my King or my Prince, and yet I’m mortified to appear before him in—in—in such a [i]state![/i] Goddess, I do [i]know[/i] it all can’t be helped and that if it weren’t for this—this—”[/color] Nesna shook her hands up against herself before gesturing rapidly at her own body and face all at once with both hands. [color=DDA0DD]“This utter [i]state[/i] I’m in, how I wouldn’t even be here, how mother would still have me b-betrothed to that little brute, but—”[/color]

Nesna stopped herself, and took a breath, bringing her hands in and holding them tightly.

[color=DDA0DD]“Excuse me,”[/color] she stated, [color=DDA0DD]“I just never in all my dreams or nightmares imagined I’d be presenting myself before a—a royal, of any sort, in such a state as this. Moon over me, I’ve done my best, but I still can’t fathom how that Prince of yours—pardon, His Highness Flynn of Aurelia—would ever see fit to tolerate blightborn. Ah, you know, a rabid animal given a bath and nice clothes is still an animal, you know? And yet the guards, not even that detes—that Guard Kain—did not oblige my offer to don a muzzle. I confess! I’m terribly nervous and ever so [i]utterly[/i] confused, really, I am. Goddess, would you listen to me babbling on!”[/color]

She offered Nathaniel a deep bow, and concluded, [color=DDA0DD]“Really, I thank you for your concern, but I feel I’m right to be nervous, especially given all that has so recently transpired here in this town…”[/color]

Nathaniel listened intently to Nesna, nodding in agreement as she recounted the harrowing tale, though he had not personally witnessed the guard's brutal murder or the subsequent disappearance of the Queen. He was only familiar with the aftermath, a chaotic scene that still echoed in the halls of the castle. 

[colour=#C0C0C0]"Yes,"[/colour]he replied simply, his voice steady, yet tinged with the weight of the situation. [colour=#C0C0C0]"The events of last night were nothing short of a complete disaster."[/colour] A shadow of concern crossed his features as he noted the unspoken worry there had been no word on whether Prince Flynn had managed to locate the Queen.

However, a flicker of hope ignited within him as he continued, [colour=#C0C0C0]"It's in Prince Flynn's hands now, but he's genuinely a good man."[/colour] He leaned slightly closer, his expression softening as he recalled his parents' stories.

[colour=#C0C0C0]"While I haven't had as much interaction with the royal family as my parents have when I was living in Aurelia. They often spoke of Flynn’s willingness to extend a hand to those in need."[/colour] Nathaniel couldn’t help but smile at the thought a glimmer of optimism in the face of uncertainty. He wanted to mention the Lead Sage, but it's the same situation; he's had little interaction with her as well.

Nesna’s expression deescalated as she rose from her bow and took in Nathaniel’s balanced response. It was unconscionable—these Aurelians, it seemed, had such an unshakable optimism about them. Was this the case for all of them? A curious, pensive smile grew on Nesna’s face as she listened to Nathaniel comment on the Aurelian Prince’s apparent benevolence. Certainly, his perspective would be different than hers would end up being, if for no other reason than the differences in their stations, but the notion was reassuring all the same. The facts of the situation—the fact that it seemed a fair amount of effort had been put into this town—did suggest this to be the case. 

[color=DDA0DD]“Thank you, again, for your sentiments,”[/color] Nesna reiterated, [color=DDA0DD]“And for the privilege of meeting you Sages so soon!”[/color]

She let out a pleased-sounding sigh, and concluded, [color=DDA0DD]“Such an auspicious time I’m having here; it makes one feel…almost as if…yes…all might be well. Yes, I think that’s the sentiment. As if all will be well…”[/color]

The crisp sound of crunching snow underfoot punctuated the air as Nathaniel and Nesna engaged in muted conversation, their words barely audible over the muffled whisper of winter. The towering silhouette of the Alchemist Tower loomed ahead, its weathered stone clinging to the promise of ancient secrets. Nathaniel felt a gnawing hesitation in his gut, a reluctance to divulge the depths of his research a rare opportunity that beckoned them toward a daring expedition. He grappled with the thought of laying out his ambitions before her, fearing the sting of rejection should she turn away from what he had to offer. The very idea twisted uncomfortably within him. [colour=#C0C0C0]"Don't worry,"[/colour] he simply said to her.

As they approached the grand doors of the Alchemist chambers, he paused, taking a breath to steady himself. A woman stood in the entrance of the door to the Alchemist Chamber. His heart beated, as he acknowledged her. [colour=#C0C0C0]”There,[/colour] he whispered [colour=#C0C0C0]”That woman in the main door, that's the Lead Sage. Eris Hightower.”[/colour]

Nesna leaned forward and squinted to try and make out her features. In doing so, she was able to get an impression not only of Eris, but of the man she was inviting in. Was that…Zeph? Her mouth cracked open into an excited little smile. Her ears perked up as she searched what she was hearing for any indication of the guard’s identity. His breathing sounded right. His voice sounded perfect. Oh, it was him! Nesna let out a small, involuntary chortle as her thought was confirmed. How could the day get any better! Here she was, being escorted to meet such an esteemed researcher by a dashing academic, and standing before them was not only that very researcher, but surely in the flesh stood that charming man who’d been so darling as to defend her against the brutish Guard Kain, extend the warmest of greetings to her, tailor her clothes with care and creativity, and even had the magnificent chivalry to behave as if she were some lovely beauty he had laid eyes upon, rather than what she was.

As Nesna stood straight once more, her smile widened such that it even forced her lower eyes shut entirely. 

[color=DDA0DD]“Isn’t that wonderful!”[/color] she chirped, [color=DDA0DD]“Perhaps we’ve caught her at just the right moment!”[/color]

Her expression sounded so chipper and excited, it would have surely suggested insincerity were it not for the fact that she was practically bouncing.

[b]Mentions:[/b]
Eris, Zeph [@The Muse]