Riptide

Chapter 15 - A few days after Chiara's trip with Ectoria

Robin suddenly stumbled, their footsteps stopping as they bent over slightly, gripping their head. Chiara immediately stopped walking, turning to face them completely.

"What do you see?" She asked, her voice calm but serious.

"Uh...flashes of light...flowers...I don't know...ah!" Robin's knees buckled and they fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Chiara sank to her knees next to them, placing her hands on their arms gently.

"It's okay, just try and breathe. Where are you?" Her voice was soft and soothing, a sharp contrast to Robin's rushed words.

"Uh...a-a meadow...no, a clearing..."

"That's good, zoom out, where is it?"

"I-I'm not sure, somewhere in the Mediterranean maybe..."

"Good, what's important about it?"

"I don't..." They fell into a trancelike state. "Three against four, Divinity to thwart, Hidden ones are found, Use those beneath ground, Old truths employed, The ancient's convoy." They gasped, collapsing against Chiara.

"Well...that was new." The girl said, and Robin laughed softly.

"Yeah." They agreed, smiling slightly.

"Do you want to go back to your room?" Chiara asked.

"That's probably a good idea." They replied, standing up unsteadily.

"Snacks?" Chiara asked knowingly.

"Snacks." Robin confirmed, their hands shaking in their pockets.

"C'mon, I restocked my chocolate stash yesterday." They both laughed as they started walking.

"Thanks for everything." Robin said, smiling.

"You don't have to thank me, it's no problem."

"Still, you don't have to do this. What's to stop you from just leaving me when stuff like that happens?"

"Basic human decency, you idiot." Chiara teased. "Seriously though, it's not that much of an ask for me to care about you."

"I guess I'm still not used to this whole being cared about thing." Robin admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"That's fine, it makes complete sense considering what he did to you." They'd reached Chiara's room by now and she opened the door. They both stepped in and she closed the door behind them. Robin sat down on the woman's bed, which had a light yellow blanket and was next to the window, which had its blackout curtains wide open, spilling sunlight into the room. There was a bookshelf against one wall that was filled with books ranging from fantasy to romance to textbooks, and at least seven had bookmarks sticking out of them. There was a desk against another wall, and a large yellow rug in the center of the room. A closet and two chests of drawers were in an alcove, and a mirror was hung on the back of the door. All-in-all, it was a pretty cosy room.

"Why so many books in progress?" Robin asked, leaning back on the bed.

"I have one for each day of the week." Chiara explained.

"Three of them are textbooks."

"I mean, four years ago all of them would have been textbooks, so it's really not that bad."

"Fair point." They took a chocolate bar from Chiara's outstretched hand, tearing open the wrapper with still slightly shaky hands.

"And," Chiara took a bite of her own chocolate bar, covering her mouth as she spoke. "It's not like I wanted to study all the time, I just kinda had to, y'know?"

"That's not normal." Robin said bluntly, taking a bite of their chocolate.

"I know, I'm working on it."

"Well, at least you're self-aware." They both laughed.