Fanfare

Possession

Trenna knows the moment they reach the rock where no magic can go. But not in the way she expected to. She expected to feel a tingle of electricity speeding through her body, pressure on her mind, akin to that of the pressure at the entrance to the dining hall. Perhaps a magnificent, striking spark of light. But maybe she was just in the mood for a little melodrama; she feels as if she is dreaming, and maybe something surprising will wake her up. Though Pierce's hand in hers feels nothing but real and surprising, all at once. 

He shudders, the motion rippling fluidly through his whole body and into her through their joined hands. Trenna looks at him, frowning. "What's wrong?" she asks.

His eyes are still tightly closed, and he shakes his head, his whole body rigid. "I can't feel it. My magic."

"I guess we're nearly there, then," Trenna says, her voice soft.

"I guess so," Pierce says, quieter. "Can you see anything?" His voice is low and carefully steady; tense, like his shoulders.

She looks around, very slowly. Cave wall. Rock. More rock. Rock in the distance. Rock forever. "I can't tell." 

"What?" Pierce's grip on her hand is somewhat strangling. 

She grins, not able to help it but glad that he can't see, because she doesn't want to make him feel ashamed; fear is something rational. Fear is a survival technique. "I've been seeing the same thing for so long I'm not sure if I'm actually seeing, or if it's all in my head. Is rock something usual down here?"

There is a silence, harsh and more than a little violent. She wonders is she's judged him incorrectly. But a small smile flickers on his lips. "You see me, right?" he asks.

"Yeah." 

"Then lead on," he says. Trenna obliges, pulling him along by his hand. Soon, they hear voices. Dusty rock drifts from the walls as something hits them, and Trenna hears a muffled curse as she leads Pierce around a gentle curve and into a larger, open section.

"Now, now," she says, scolding. "No need for that sort of language." Jack jerks, hitting his head on a protruding wedge of rock again and breaking out into a torrent of the same sort of language. The gathered men and women laugh. Trenna joins in and lets go of Pierce's hand, going to him and guiding Jack's head away from the rock gently, on her tiptoes, her hands in his dusty hair. "You should take a cue from everyone else and stay still," she tells him. 

He smiles in the darkness, his hands covering hers and pulling them down from his head. "Here's our night-vision miracle," he says, his grin audible in his voice. 

He pulls her into a rough hug. Trenna hears a low sound, almost strangled, and pulls back in surprise. Pierce is standing where she left him. His face is extremely pale, his fingers clutching the rock wall at his side so tightly that his knuckles are bloodless. Trenna pulls away from Jack and goes to him, dodging stationary people as she grabs his hand, going on her toes to whisper in his ear. "Sorry." He simply shakes his head. Trenna clears her throat. "So, um. What am I doing here, exactly?"

"We were hoping you'd tell us where we are," someone calls out, a woman whose voice she doesn't recognise; Trenna suspects the voice belongs to one of the people on the search who made the discovery.

"And how to get out," Hugo pipes in.

Thinking this fairly obvious, Trenna raises an eyebrow at him, before realising no one can see but her. She sighs. "We're in a cave. It continues further down, I think."

"We can see that. There's a faint light, if you travel further down, but we can't see if there're any holes in the cave floor."

"You know I'd sacrifice myself to the cause, but then... well, I wouldn't exist, would I? And that would be a shame," Jack says emphatically.

"Such a shame," Anna says drily, and Trenna grins.

"Mental tackle," Jack says.

Anna looks confused. "What?"

"Well, I can't really tackle you because I can't see, and I doubt Trenna would do it for me."

"I wouldn't," Trenna interjects. 

"So I am merely stating what I would have done were we in a lit environment," Jack continues, as if she hadn't spoken.

"Mental dodge," Anna says.

"Persists in mental tackle."

"Mental slap."

"Ooh, harsh. I can't hit a girl. Even mentally." 

"Good thing I have no such qualms," Anna says, a smile on her face. There's a smattering of laughter.

Jack grins, despite being called a girl. "You wait til I can see," Jack says.

"Alright, enough." Trenna can't feel her hand; Pierce is holding it so tightly she feels as if it's being crushed. She stretches out her fingers, and he grips her hand in a slightly more relaxed manner. "We're going to have a look ahead, down the tunnel. I'll let you know if we find anything."

Trenna tugs on Pierce's jacket and goes on tiptoe to speak to him without slighting his command in front of his soldiers. "You know, it would be much easier if I go in alone. Just in case." Pierce frowns. "I'll be quicker," Trenna says quickly.

Pierce sighs and runs a hand along the strap of his gun, as if reassuring himself it's still there. "Fine. Bring me to the entrance, though."

Trenna smiles in victory and tugs him along, carefully leading him through her shift team and the searchers, towards where the cave continues. The mingled rebels chatter amongst themselves, gripping hands, linking fingers in the darkness, their faces filled with hope, eyes open and closed and seeing more than they can in the darkness behind closed eyelids. Seeing freedom.

Trenna hopes this tunnel leads somewhere.

She reaches where the tunnel continues and stops, taking Pierce's hands and placing them on the wall. When she tries to let go, he keeps a hold of her, lacing their fingers together and holding her hands against his chest to tug her closer. She looks around, at the people surrounding them. Pierce seems as oblivious to them as they are to his actions, which is normal, considering all they see is blackness; it's easy to be oblivious when you can't see what's around you. But she can see. And it's odd, being able to see when everyone around her is left in the dark.

"Be careful," Pierce says, leaning close, his breath stirring her hair. She goes still; today seems to be a day filled with surprises and things she never thought she would ever hear Pierce say or see him do, especially considering she thought he was dead up until a few weeks ago. But more so because Pierce isn't like that.

"When am I not careful?" she asks, forcing lightness into her tone.

His hands travel along her arms, his touch fleeting and feather-soft until he reaches her shoulders, gripping them tight. "You get yourself killed and leave me alone in the dark, and I'll never forgive you." There's a rough, unrelenting humour along with the severity she relates to him in his voice.

She can't tell if her voice is shaking, but it should be, because her heart is racing uncontrollably. "Don't worry. If I die, I promise I'll haunt you," she quips with a quavering grin.

Pierce's lip betrays the flicker of a smile. Not quite knowing what she's doing, her hand reaches up, a finger tracing the corner of his mouth. He freezes, his whole body tensing. "You should do that more often," she whispers, wondering what magic is possessing her, taking his hands from her shoulders and putting them on the wall. She lets go and walks into the tunnel. That is when she remembers that no magic other than her own can follow them into this place.