Redi Domum

[stringmods]

Who: The missing visitors and you. Open to everyone.
Where: MAGI Labs
Summary: After being violently removed from the Tower of Animus, everyone is returned 'home'.
Warnings: None

There was a tight clench behind your navel, the sensation of something dragging you through the fabric of time and space itself... it was an unpleasant sensation, almost sickening. Those of Hinoto-Ri had vanished from the tower completely when the clock struck midnight from what had just happened, removed from that reality. It had happened with such abruptness that it was downright disorienting to observe. There was no chance for a hurried goodbye, no chance of even letting out a surprised scream...

Those of Hinoto-Ri were dragged back to their own world with very little grace, and for a dizzying and wild thirty seconds, they suffered from the sensation of thick tentacles grasping and yanking their bodies this way and that through a swirling blur of matter. Where were they going? What had caused this?

After those sickening moments that seemed to last far longer, they were unceremoniously shoved out of the Shining Trapezohedron in a stream of bright lights, and into what looked like a giant room filled with computer screens. At least it didn't appear to be the Mictlan, like when the other group had returned.

Pray that you weren't on the bottom of the pile...

Now there was a quiet hum, as an alarm went off. Lights shone brightly upon you as scientists outside were running scans to determine you weren't harmful from your trip. That left you time to think.

You had finally met him...

Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos. He'd taunted some of you, shown you another world you had been sent to save...but in the end, nothing much had changed. Perhaps there was small solace that it was still standing and not completely obliterated as had been his plan. The questioned remained, however...

Where was He now? ...you could figure that out later. There were reunions to be had first.

[OOC - Anyone can start threads.]

Comments

[booyaka_boom]

Somewhere in that tangle of bodies was Selphie. Eyes still closed, she waited until the others had moved away from her. Everything felt heavy, and the light unbearable. Eventually, Selphie opened her eyes.

So they were back. Without helping the people in the tower like she'd promised. They were back, but Selphie just felt heavy, her mind dull. Her eyes closed again. She'll just lay there until she's moved.

[sky_child]

"Hey, are you all right?"

She wasn't one of the people he was looking for, but she was a familiar face all the same.

[booyaka_boom]

Selphie didn't move from her curled up position on the floor. She opened her eyes slightly, enough to see who it was. Her eyes closed again and her head inclined forward, like she was nodding. Of course she's okay.

[sky_child]

He kneels down, cautiously extending his hand to her shoulder.

"You don't look okay."

[booyaka_boom]

Selphie screwed her eyes up tighter, this time shaking her head slightly. She's not sure what that is supposed to suggest, but it was all that she could manage.

[sky_child]

"I'm sorry."

He doesn't know what he's apologizing for. The details of this trip are non-existent to him, but he can piece together the clues.

"It must have been a rough trip."

[booyaka_boom]

Selphie slowly, but surely, gradually opened her eyes to look at him. She doesn't know what he's apologising for either, but at his second statement, she gave a gentle nod.

[kings_thief]

As soon as Locke had gotten the message about the missing people returning, he'd bolted. Eyes scanned the figures in the room, looking for any trace of Selphie and silently hoping she was still in one piece. It didn't take too long to spot her and once he did, he was at her side and pulling her into his arms.

"Selph-! Are you okay? What happened?"

[booyaka_boom]

Selphie allowed herself to be pulled, not even thinking to move herself, or to find out what was happening. It was only when she heard that voice that she decided to open her eyes. It was Locke, or so it seemed to be, but she wasn't sure of anything. Not right now.

She said nothing, just looked at him through narrowed eyes, like she was waiting for something to happen to prove that he wasn't real.

[kings_thief]

Her silence bothered him more than anything. Selphie was only quiet when there was something wrong; what had she gone through wherever it was she had gone?

A gloved hand reached up to stroke her hair gently, just trying to comfort her somehow. "Hey...I don't even get a hello?" He managed a small smile. "Come on, Selph, talk to me. What happened?"

[booyaka_boom]

Her eyes widened when she realised that this was, really, Locke. But where before she might have pounced on him and smothered him with hugs, this time Selphie only gently put her arms around him.

When he touched her hair, Selphie flinched. Not because he was so close, but because she was startled to find herself with Locke in the first place. She pressed herself closer, burying her face in his chest. Selphie's shoulders shook, there was a pause, then her whole body was overwhelmed with sobs.

[kings_thief]

The flinch made him worried he'd done something wrong or hurt her somehow, but then she was pressing closer and his hold tightened. He held her as she cried, wishing with all his might that he could protect her from whatever had caused her pain and cursing the man who'd sent her and left Locke behind.

"Shh...it's okay, I've got you. Nothing's gonna hurt you now." He held her as close as he could, just petting her hair and back and whispered comfort to her. He would protect her with his life...and just try to pick of the pieces after whatever had happened.

[booyaka_boom]

Selphie never cried, at least never in front of others. But her relief at being back, and being with Locke, was too great. She knew now that she had certain safety. Slowly, her hold on Locke tightened, more and more until she was grasping onto his back.

She eventually sat up slightly, lifting her face to look at him. Her eyes were red, her cheeks wet with tears, and there was something pleading in her gaze. "Please don't let me go..." In part she meant back to where she had been, even if it was outwith his control. But she also just needed time to be comforted.

[kings_thief]

It hurt to see her like that, she was always so bright and optimistic. It wasn't like he hadn't seen her upset before, they'd been through plenty of hardships together...but it had been a long time and he just wanted to bring that smile he loved back to her face.

Her words were like having his own daggers shoved through his chest. Gently, he brought one hand up to wipe her cheeks and pressed a kiss to one. "Never. I promise." Then he had his arms tightly back around her. He'd hold her for hours if she needed it.

[booyaka_boom]

This time, Selphie didn't flinch. If anything, her reaction was more of a quiet whimper. She imagined that she must look so sad, and she hated to think about what Locke might feel to see her like this. Selphie wondered if he felt embarrassed, or maybe even annoyed.

But the kiss on her cheek banished those ideas. Selphie didn't smile, but her frown had disappeared. Somehow, Locke never made her feel like a burden. So she continued to hold herself to him tightly, mumuring into his shoulder, "...thank you..."

[kings_thief]

"You're welcome." A thought ran through his head and he quietly dismissed it; this wasn't the time or place for something like that.

"When you're ready, I'll take you back to my place where you can rest as long as you want, okay? And I'll make whatever sounds good." Well, he'd try his best anyway, he was no chef, but if she wanted something he wasn't going to say no to it.

[booyaka_boom]

Locke had looked like he was thinking, like he was about to maybe say something. Selphie watched his face patiently, giving him a queried look, waiting, just in case he changed his mind.

She hadn't even been thinking about food at all, but now that he mentioned it, she did feel quite hungry. Maybe ordinarily Selphie would have argued about his offer, but there and then that was all that she needed, "Can we go...now? I- I don't want much just... bread or...cookies."

[kings_thief]

He smiled and nodded. "Sure. You can have all the bread and cookies you want." Locke pulled away enough to stand and pulled her up with him so he could wrap an arm around her. "Want to walk or do you want to teleport and get there faster?"

[booyaka_boom]

Selphie didn't quiet manage a smile at that, but she certainly looked, at least, less traumatised than she did before Locke had arrived. She shakily got to her feet, both of her arms holding on around his waist. If he hadn't noticed it before, then perhaps he'd notice it then, or later, but her inner arms are covered in scratches, some deeper than others, but still red like they are recent.

"Teleport..?" The sooner Selphie could be somewhere that resembled home the better. Besides, she was far to exhausted to walk anywhere.

[kings_thief]

He does notice the scratches when he helps her out, but he chooses not to say anything just yet. His hold tightens ever so slightly and focuses on the teleport spell. A pulling sensation is the only warning before their scenery changes and they're in the kitchen of the Hellsing headquarters, the place he'd been staying in the last month.

There were more supplies here, at least.

He pulled out a chair for her to sit in and then knelt before her, his hands covering her arms. "Let's take care of these first.." The light green hue of a cure spell came from his hands and began to close the wounds. The teleport spell always took a big chunk out of his energy, so he would have to space the cure spells out, but he could do this.

[booyaka_boom]

That teleport spell, however, had Selphie suddenly feeling very queasy. It had felt similar to the spell that had taken her to and from the tower, after all. When she opened her eyes she wobbled slightly, and she hadn't expected that this was where they'd end up. Had he moved out of his apartment?

Selphie wanted to pull her arms away, to explain that it wasn't her fault - that it was the doll that made her do it. But she didn't want to sound crazy, or to worry him anymore than necessary. She stared for a moment, watching him cast the cure spell, looking at her arms, then his face. "Thank you. They'll be okay, though..." The last thing she wanted was to exhaust him.

[kings_thief]

H smiled at her and returned his focus to her arms, making sure the first one was healed up before turning to the second one. "I'm sure they will be. They'll be even better once I'm done healing them."

As soon as both of her arms were healed up he stood and got her a glass of water, just in case she was thirsty, before moving about to start gathering supplies for cookie-making. "You know...I won't push you to talk about it...but I will listen if you want to tell me what happened. I want to help."

[booyaka_boom]

"No, but - don't waste your energy on me..." Selphie frowned gently at his smile, because it wasn't fair that he should. But once he'd cast the spells there was nothing she could do, so she sat back, and offered a smile of thanks.

Selphie took the glass, sipping the water slowly. But then Locke was moving around, looking busy, doing things. Forget herself - what was he doing? She stood up suddenly, taking a step towards him, "Hey. Wait. What are you doing? Let me help!" Her concern was that Locke didn't tire himself out doing things for her, regardless of what she might have to talk about.

[kings_thief]

He paused as he pulled eggs out of the fridge. "You should rest. I...I was worried about you...and there was nothing I could do to try and help; you got hurt over there and there was nothing I could do." He let his eyes slide back up to hers, his voice bleeding honesty. "I just want to protect you and make you happy, so...let me take care of you, okay? I promise I won't baby you, but right now you're hurt, so let some one else do the work."

Words that he hadn't said since his days in the bubble flashed through his head, words he'd even said to her once...but he bit them back and turned to put the eggs on the counter instead.

[booyaka_boom]

Selphie really, really wanted to argue her case. That even though she was hurt, none of that could have been helped, and certainly none of that was his fault. Being taken care of was something that Selphie struggled so hard to get used to. After all, she was so used to looking after herself.

But there was something in his voice, and something in the way that he had looked at her that made her unable to speak. She just looked at him, silent, her eyes beginning to smart with tears. Selphie nodded her head slowly, and sat back down on the chair. "But... I can help you clean up...if you need it..." So maybe she wasn't entirely ready to let it go.