cascade | kotlc

4. Gathering: Light and Shadow

The door slammed again, and Elwin strided over, opening the door and allowing Tam and Biana to slip in.

They had officially announced their relationship to the rest of the elvin world already; indeed, their double crush cuffs glittered proudly around their wrists, and there was a specially loving way Tam was holding Biana tight, his hands delicately covering Biana's most major scars.

The scars, Faye thought, the scars. They were horrible to look at, not because it ruined Biana's natural beauty, but because it was the marks Vespera would eternally leave on the girl. And seeing the sharp, jagged lines litter Biana's skin, stretch across her neck and face and legs and arms, there was some sort of pain underlying the faint white lines. Faint, but not faint enough, and under the soft fluorescent light of the Healing Center the lines seemed to project, scattered beams ricocheting across Biana's body, as if it was just a mere trick of light.

"You can save them," June said slowly, drawing herself up and grasping her tearstained skirt. "You" -- she fixed her eyes on Tam's upright gaze, then to Biana's lowered, somewhat shameful stare -- "You can save them."

Shadows coalesced across the silky sheets, filling empty vials, as glittering streaks of lively viridescent danced across the air and over their bodies. The couple wordlessly stood at attention, leaning over Sophie and beginning to work.

"You can save them," June repeated, the wind powering her voice and throwing it across the room. It was as if thousands of speakers were playing her words in disunison, what with the wind ruffling the syllables.

"Maybe," Biana decided, her hand subconsciously rubbing a particularly extensive scar on her left bicep as Calla's ring worked its magic, verdant fluids spreading over Fitz's body and seeping into his skin, rewarding it with a greenish tone. "But... maybe not."

"Don't think like that!" June cried out. "You can do it. I know you can. You're- you're Biana Amberly Vacker. The princess. If you can't do it- no one can. And my sister and boyfriend will be as good as dead."

"It's not like that," Tam explained, his brows scruching together as he examined Sophie's wounded hand. "It's... well, I'm not sure about you, but." He straightened, creasing up his sleeves and gathering shadows above his fingertips, as he locked eyes with Elwin. "You notice the blobs, right?"

"I noticed the blobs," he confirmed. "That's not normal."

Tam's eyes drifted back to Sophie. "Hmm."

"Can you feel the- blobs or whatever, princess?" Faye asked Biana quietly, to which she tried a strange combination of both nodding and shaking her head.

"It's like this." She snapped her fingers and dazzling light filled the back wall. Elwin pushed a cart of vials away, clearing space for the hologram, and in moments a flickering 3D display focused into clarity.

They were two images of bodies, side by side, the right feminine and the left masculine. On both of their bodies there were an assortment of glowing jade dots in various levels of intensity, flowing limish lines that seemed to imitate blood flow, mossy blotches dotted their skin, and emerald stats and graphs were scattered to the side.

"These are the bodily injuries," Biana clarified, pointing to the pulsing dots. "The brighter they are, the worse the injuries are, but they're things we can definitely fix. These are circulatory, pulmonary, and nervous issues, the lines, and again, these are definitely fixable. The blotches are previous wounds, like scars -- that's why you see the one on her hand, see? -- and the stats are just, well, stats. But these."

She magnified onto Fitz's chest, where the hologram was murkier, in a way. Less clear, more misty and muddy, somewhat like Faye's eye, she thought bitterly. Milkily sage. It almost smelled minty.