Nowhere To Go But Up

What am I doing?

Taranza woke up, feeling the loss of Sectonia all over again. How long it would hurt for, he couldn't even guess. Using mostly muscle memory, he navigated the hallways to see if Magolor was awake. He entered the library to see the couch empty, and the blanket gone. He had woken up early, then? He didn't seem to be in the library, so maybe he was in the kitchen? No luck. Maybe he went back down? The Starcutter was still there, and he wasn't anywhere near it. He knocked on the door, and the ship itself responded, asking Taranza where Magolor was. Weird.

Taranza re-entered the library, and thought that maybe he should just look harder. It was a huge room, after all. As he went between two of the shelves, he heard Magolor making some kind of sound. Following the sound, he saw him behind a pile of books on the floor. The blanket was tightly wrapped around him, and he was fidgeting as if he was having a nightmare. Poor guy. "Magolor, wake up." No response. Taranza tried poking him, but nothing seemed to be happening.

It was definitely a nightmare. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was speaking, although it was very quiet. "Please, let go... I swear I didn't do anything... put me down... I'm sorry..."

Taranza, hearing all this, thought it may be best to unwrap the blanket. When he did, Magolor seemed to calm down slightly, then one of his eyes opened very slightly, then closed again before opening all the way. "Are you all right?" Taranza gave him a look that he tried to make sympathetic, but he wasn't sure if Magolor understood what that was like, especially this soon after waking up.

Magolor blinked a few times, his eyes widening every time he opened them. "What are you doing here?" He shifted away from Taranza, visibly on guard.

Taranza realized at that moment that Magolor would, of course, not be comfortable with waking up next to anyone. Not after what happened with Meta Knight, or everything before he found the Lor Starcutter. "I found you back here, and it looked like you were having a nightmare, so I woke you up. Are you doing all right?"

Magolor's eyes narrowed. "So were you the one who put me on the couch with this thing?" He pointed to the blanket.

"Yes, I was. I saw you fall asleep at the table, and decided that you'd be more comfortable on the couch. You looked cold, so I wrapped that around you. Should I not have done that?"

"I don't mind that you wanted to help, but thinking about the circumstances makes me uncomfortable." Magolor looked away, rubbing the back of his head.

"Fair enough. Are you hungry?" Taranza had moved a safe distance away.

"Not really. I ate quite a bit before I fell asleep at the table."

After Taranza left, Magolor simply stared ahead at the bookshelf in front of him. Not because there was anything interesting about the shelf, he was just staring into space and it happened to be occupying that space. What is wrong with me? Nothing I'm doing makes any sense. I'm saying things that he doesn't need to hear, I'm falling asleep defenseless, this is way too dangerous. I wouldn't be like this normally, there must be something wrong here. I need to be more careful around Taranza. He could be dangerous.

After a few hours of reading various books, Magolor went to see if there was any way he could find the mirror. If only he had a map of this castle, it'd be so much easier not to get lost. He pulled up his notepad and started drafting a map. It wasn't very good, but it got the job done. Maybe he could actually remember where anything was now. If he could find the Lor, he'd have somewhere safe to sleep, or be able to call for help. How did he get this lost in the first place?

He eventually stumbled into the kitchen, where he saw Taranza making lunch. "Hey. Do you mind if I use the stove?" Good opener, didn't tell him my entire life story again. No way it can be that hard to resist whatever it is that's happening to me.

"Are you sure you know how?"

"Ha ha. I know how stoves work, smartass. I figured it out with the manual in the Lor." I swear, self, if you somehow manage to mess this up again, I don't know what I'm going to do with you.

"Of course, of course, I was kidding. Though that may not be evident from the lack of indicators on my face." He took his food and sat at the table in the next room over.

Magolor filled the kettle with water and put a pot on the stove, waiting until later to turn it on. "I get that. Sometimes I've-" You better not fucking continue that sentence. "Been told that I always look like I'm plotting something." Stop there. Stop there. Do not keep talking. Why am I opening my mouth? "That alone has gotten a few bombs thrown my way." Hey, no offense to me, but what the fuck is wrong with me?

After Magolor had finished making his pasta, he carried the plate over to the table. Don't sit at the table. I will not sit at the table. This situation is already unsalvageable. Do not. Make it worse. By sitting. At the table. Just ask where the Lor is and go. "Hey, I've been having some trouble finding my way around. Could you tell me how to get back to the Lor? I really would like to find somewhere to sleep. I don't mind the couch in the library, but the idea of sleeping on it terrifies me." This is the worst day of my life, and I am including the one that literally killed me. How am I this stupid?

"It's just behind the door at the end of the hallway. It really should not have been hard to find. Are you all right?"

Mentally? Absolutely not. "That can't be where it is. I've checked that door three times."

Taranza blinked, while giving Magolor the kind of look you'd give someone who said they didn't think grass was real. "...Check again? I can go with you if need be." They went to the door after Taranza put his plate in the sink. He opened it, and saw the grand room with the window that Magolor had parked the Starcutter outside of.

Magolor ran one hand under his hood, over his head. "What?" This doesn't make any sense. What is happening? Who is that guy? How is he doing all this? Am I going insane again? Slightly panicked, he carried the plate out the window and went to the Lor. The door opened quickly, before he could indicate his desire to bang his head against it in frustration. Once he finished eating the farfalle, he took it back to the castle. I hope I don't see Taranza on the way, I don't want to look like more of an idiot than I already do.

Magolor got back to the kitchen, which was exactly where he remembered it being, and then looked at the map he'd drawn. How did I manage to draw TWELVE doors that haven't ever existed? The end of the hallway only has one door, not five, and it should be marked as having the Lor behind it. ...That is still true, right? He went back to the one door and opened it. Yep, that was it. Cool, so I was just insane when I drew this. Awesome. Glad to know that can happen. Everything was as it should be. He put the plate and fork into the sink, and left to go back to the library.

Taranza was there. This will end in pain. "Hey, Magolor. You seemed pretty upset earlier, so I put some books on the table. They always help me when I need to calm down."

"Thanks. I'll get to reading them, then."

Taranza left.

Magolor went to the table and sat down. I actually just spoke to him without being an idiot. I can't believe this.

He read through all of the books in nine hours. He liked all of them, despite originally thinking they weren't his kind of thing. A few of them were romance, and by the third one of those, he was playfully annoyed by the protagonist not realizing her feelings. It's a little funny, but there's no way anyone is actually this oblivious to themselves. Then again, I didn't realize I was insane until I actually looked at my own map hours after writing it. He finished reading. That was the last book in the pile. He leaned back a little in the chair and smiled to himself. Looks like he had calmed down from whatever was happening before. I hope I don't fall asleep here again.

Hey, how did that happen, anyway? I wasn't THAT tired, was I? No, that doesn't make sense. I can only sleep for an extended period of time when I'm really tired or really comfortable. I definitely wasn't that tired, so I was probably just really enjoying myself. But is there really anything that would have made me feel safe enough to fall asleep in a chair, and then not be woken up by Taranza carrying me to the couch?

When the epiphany hit him, it was like glass shattering in the form of a thought.