Still Here

Distress

Soren bit his nails as the doctor proceeded to ask questions. "So, what happened?" Callum looked away in shame. To protect his feelings, Rayla simplified it to, "We'll say she got struck by lightning." "My lightning," Callum muttered. "Uh, what was that?" the doctor asked. "Nothing. Don't worry about it," Rayla said, giving the doctor a thumbs up. Tristan shook his head and turned his gaze back to Claudia. He thought for a moment.

He checked to make sure she was breathing all right. Tristan checked her pulse. "Everything really is alright. She is just unconscious. She'll wake up in time. I say, give it an hour." Soren thanked the doctor and shut the door behind him. He sighed. She's okay. She'll wake up. Terry sighed a long sigh. "Thank the trees," he muttered under his breath. Soren thought the saying was odd. What did trees have to do with anything? He shrugged. Elves are weird. Callum was sitting down now, twiddling his thumbs. Rayla was beside him, as per usual. This time she was leaning on his shoulder.

The homonculus chattered as it glanced around the room. Terry had asked to look at the many, many books on the bookshelves. He also marveled at the magic wonders of Xadia Callum had stored on the shelves in his office. Claudia groaned. This attracted everyone's attention. Terry sprinted, stumbling, back to her side. She began to stir.

Nothing could describe the pounding headache in Claudia’s head as she struggled to open her eyes. She still felt quite tingly. She tried to sit up, but the more she tried the worse her migraine got. Her eyes opened fully. A wide smile spread across Terry's face. "You alright? Does anything hurt, or-" Soren interrogated her. Claudia tensed. She still wasn't quiet sure about Soren. But he seemed so genuinely worried. About her, of all people!

"I'm fine, Soren. And..." she mumbled the last part. "What?" "And..." she sighed. "I'm sorry. It was... cruel. I was cruel. You were right." She looked up at Viren. "I don't know what I was thinking." She buried her head in her knees. Soren placed a hand on her shoulder. "Grief. Dad died, Clauds. And you were too close to him accept that. You brought him back because you couldn't bear to let him go. And now, it's time." She sighed. "...Okay."

They had a small ceremony later that night. Rayla didn't bother to attend. It was for Viren, after all. They had a guard put him down. Of course, he didn't hesitate to when he heard who it was. Then he continued to talk about breakfast. He never shut up about breakfast.

Mostly words of hatred were said in the little ceremony, but Terry tried to look on the bright side. "He was... kind of a jerk, but he was... a... good listener?" Soren didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. Before he knew it, the ceremony was over anyway.

Rayla dashed up the stairs of the Storm Spire. She tried to charge at Viren, but he and his startouch companion blocked her. Viren's chilling voice spoke. "You’re too late. I've already won." She glanced at the edge. Again, she dashed toward him. She heard Callum call, "No!" from behind her, but she didn't turn around. She caught Viren's waist and pulled him to the edge. She jumped along with him.
"No, no, no-"

"Rayla!" Callum called in the darkness. She sat up beside him. "Wha- Huh? What? What happened?" Callum panted heavily. "Today, when we saw Viren again, it took me back. Back to the last time I saw him. When you jumped. Every time I close my eyes, I'm back at the top of the Storm Spire. Crying. Calling your name. But nobody answers."

"It’s okay," she whispered. "I'm right here."