The Affair: Chapter 1

[Anos]

XX of XX, 717

Anos stopped short in front of the building. His horse snorted, and tried to keep going, but Anos yanked back hard on the bridle.

Apparently the horse didn't like that much, and bucked, throwing Anos off. By some stroke of luck, he landed on his feet, and stared up at the horse. "Damn beast," he muttered under his breath as he gathered the reigns and tied the horse up outside. The snow was still thick, though now he had become more or less used to the impossibly large drifts.

Anos stared at the horse for a moment longer before shaking his head and turned to head inside. The building was smaller than he'd expected, though the outside was impossibly neat. He ducked under the door frame, his eyes growing wide at the orderly bustle inside.

He looked around for a moment, trying to find someone to get Faith for him, but everyone appeared to have a job.

Eventually he had to stop in front of someone, forcing them to crane their neck to look at him. "Sorry, but I'm looking for Faith?"

The woman gave him curt directions, then darted around him back to her task. Anos padded around the building, looking for the stairs.

Up to the third floor he went, and stopped. The doors were closed, and an almost sacred silence filled the hallway. He fumbled at his neck for the thong and medallion, uttering a quick prayer to Vri to keep him safe.

Doing his best to be quiet, Anos began padding along the hallway, searching for an open door, or the sound of Faith's voice.

SOURCE

[Faith Augustin]

29th Cylus 717

Her study of the Rot was coming along apace and Faith was starting to think that maybe there was something to be said for the possibility of a cure. In ten, twenty generations that was. The frustration that she felt was enormous, for she was doing her best to make sense of what seemed to her to be nonsensical as a disease. Still, that was the way of it, she knew and this was just a process. A process of trial and error, more trial and more error until she made a calculated lucky guess. She was patient and she had time; it was Nir'wei who didn't.

Still, she was in the third floor office which Galena had given over to her in order for her to study and Faith was sitting in her usual place, a book open next to her and a pen in her hand, taking notes. Currently, she was studying Sev'ryn anatomy and she was reading about a case of the Rot which had been unlike any others, as neither of the woman's parents had it. The patient was a full-blooded Sev'ryn and Faith rolled her eyes in disdain as she came to the part where it became obvious that the mother had had an affair of some kind.

In doing so, she saw someone walking outside the door which was, of course, open and she realised as she saw the towering figure that she recognised him.

"Anos?"

Should he turn around and look at where his name came from it was a small office space with large windows. There was a desk piled high with books and the desk had a comfortable leather chair behind it. Faith, however, was sitting on the floor, surrounded by books and parchment. Her face showed her pleasure, though, when she saw him and she moved to stand up, for all the good it did her.

"I am glad to see you again! Are you looking for someone specific or are you visiting me?" He had some strange symptoms and they'd met a few trials before. True to her word, Faith had been doing some research since then and she had a few questions to ask him. When he confirmed that he was here visiting her, Faith beamed in delight "Excellent! How are you?" Faith wondered and gestured to the comfortable chair. "Please, sit down." She grabbed a pile of books which were specific to her study of him and as she did she caught sight of his medallion.

"That's interesting. What's the symbol?" She couldn't quite see, his hand was obscuring it.

[Anos]

Hearing his name made Anos whip around, jumping slightly at the unexpected sound. A sheepish grin crossed his face, and he ducked through the doorway. The room was small, almost feeling claustrophobic to him.

By the seven- his hair brushed the roof as he stood, and his shoulders seemed to block off the entire doorway. The window helped, a large, floor-to-ceiling sheet of glass that must have cost twice what Anos made in an arc back in Andaris.

"Good morn, Faith," his voice rumbled, and he sent a look over his shoulder as he did so. Anos felt slightly self conscious with the tomb-like silence of the hall, and moved to close the door, should Faith not stop him. "I'm actually here to figure out what's wrong with me, if you've got the time to do so?"

He gratefully sunk into the proffered chair, and sighed gratefully as the room seemed to grow slightly. At Faith's query, he blushed yet again. He hadn't even noticed that he was still clutching at his medallion. Embarrassed, he chuckled slightly and gave a one-shoulder shrug as he leaned forward and showed it to her.

"I- I'm not sure. I've been told it's a symbol of Vri, but I, well, I haven't yet got used to the idea of praying or being religious. It's a...keepsake from my old life." His eyes grew distant for a moment as he thought back to the trials at the orphanage. Half a trill later, he shook off the memories like a moth-eaten blanket and refocused on Faith.

"I've been doing well, Faith. I, actually, well I have started working for the Elements here in Scalvoris. They seem to find my...side effects useful. But I'd still like to know what they are, if nothing else. Do you think you have any ideas? It's manifested in two ways, which I think are related. The first is the hallucinations, which we've talked about. They seem to happen only when I look into someone's eyes- a switch seems to be flipped in my brain. And apparently I've lost track of time- a whole trial, in fact. It doesn't feel like I have...if I didn't have several people swear to me that they had seen me, I'd have thought it false."

Anos rubbed a rough hand across his forehead, wrinkling lines appearing. "I...I just hope I can figure this out."

He looked back over to Faith, suddenly realizing that he was in the only chair in the room. Rising suddenly, guilt crossed his face. "Oh!"

"I took your chair, didn't I? You sit in it- it's hardly fair for me to take it from you. I can sit on the floor, its no trouble at all." He wasn't about to take no for an answer. "Besides," he added with a smirk, "It'll mean our heads are nearly at the same level."

SOURCE

[Faith Augustin]

"I do have the time, indeed." Faith replied with a friendly smile. He was so big, she felt like such a tiny person in his presence. He and Amaris should get along, she thought, they were both tall. That was a very strange reason to get along, though, and Faith banished the thought as a silly one.

Looking at the medallion, Faith recognised the symbol before Anos spoke. "It is, yes. The symbol of Vri, Immortal of Love, Sorrow, Death and Remembrance." She smiled at him as she handed it back and then watched him as he spoke of it being a keepsake from his old life. What that life was, she did not ask because it simply was not Faith's way to do so.

He spoke, though, of what he had been experiencing and she listened, thinking about it carefully. Just about to reply, she realised that his face had changed expression and then he started to get up and worried about it being the only chair. "It's no bother, Anos, it's.. " If he was sitting on the floor and her in a chair they might look each other eye to eye? Faith could not hide the grin at that particular nugget. "Cheeky. And also inaccurate. I think you'll still be taller than me." But she gave in. It was not in her nature to argue with people, she tended towards the compliant more often than not.

"Thank you." It was important to be polite and he had been thoughtful to consider her. "I've got a number of ideas, Anos, about what it might be, this condition of yours, but at the moment I just don't have enough information." She looked at him and gave a slight smile.

"I am sorry, it will seem like I am prying, but I need to start by taking as complete a medical history as I can. Parents, siblings, where you lived, illnesses for you and those in your family from as far back as you can remember. Can we start there?"

[Anos]

Anos noticed again how tiny Faith was, as joke from his time in the guard came back to him. It involved the height of her head relative to his body, and he blushed furiously as he thought about it..

By the seven, where did that come from?

He breathed deeply, and focused back on Faith.

When Faith tried to pass off him sitting in the chair, Anos simply sat down on the floor. If the woman was that stubborn, they could both sit on the floor together. He had to smile, however, when Faith’s prediction was proven right and his head was still above hers while sitting on the ground.

Anos fell silent for a moment after Faith asked her questions. This was why he was here, after all, but there was reluctance to share. Perhaps it was born of fear- after all, she obviously knew a fair bit about Rynmere, and the last thing he needed was her suddenly realizing he was on the run.

But how else was he going to get better? Whatever it was had obviously escalated, and the visions were getting worse. It wasn’t safe for him to ignore them any more.

He sighed deeply; his brow furrowed, and he began speaking. It was halting at first, as if he was pulling teeth and not words from his mouth, but he gained speed and confidence as he spoke.

“I… I’m not sure. I, uh, grew up in an… orphanage. In Rynmere. I never knew my mother- was told she died giving birth to me. They found her collapsed near the orphanage on the night of my birth. So who knows about the father- they said he was probably a random person, doesn’t even know he has a child…”

He pawed roughly at his eyes, forestalling any chance of tears falling. Why did talking about this still get to him, even after all these arcs?

“Lived there until I got too old, and then went to join the guard. Spent a few arcs there, and now here I am. I’ve never been that sick, as far as I know. Typical fever or cold during Cylus, but that’s about it.”

He gaze, which had remained on the floor, finally rose to meet her eyes. “Not sure that’s any help at all, but it’s all I’ve got. Do you think it’s something wrong with my brain?”

SOURCE

[Faith Augustin]

She missed his blush but his grin when he realised that he was still taller than her when he sat on the floor did not pass her by and Faith returned the expression. Still, they had work to do and so she asked her question. She hadn't expected the answer she got, not for a moment and Faith put her pen down and listened to him, a slight frown on her face. As he spoke, she realised that she did not like the set up in this room and when Anos left she was going to change it. There was a bloody big desk between her and him and so Faith stood and moved, around the desk to where she could kneel on the floor, back straight.

If he noticed such things, Faith was not at all uncomfortable sitting that way, kneeling on the floor and sitting on her heels, she seemed entirely comfortable and at home. "I'm sorry to hear that." Faith's silver eyes sought out his and she had concern in them but not pity, should he recognise the difference. She understood what he was speaking of, more than most could. Faith, after all, had no idea who her parents were, she did not know if they were still alive or if she had any siblings. Others might have shared that with him, but Faith did not believe that it would help him, so she did not.

Instead, she listened. "Well, that tells me a lot of things, actually." Her voice was quiet and calm. "It tells me that you were healthy, strong enough to survive and that you got colds and infections like everyone else. But no, no, I don't think that there's anything wrong with your brain." Why she thought that, she explained, was simple. The triggers for events were not indicative of it being a brain response. It wasn't light or dark, noise or silence. If it was looking in someone's eyes, well, the brain would probably have symptoms of some kind every time he did.

There was something, though, and it was tugging at her brain, and Faith had to ask it. "Anos, where did you get that symbol? The symbol of Vri? Have you met one of his priests or worshippers?" Vri, after all, was very associated with remembrance and Anos was forgetting things. Of all things, Faith held out her hand to him, placing it on his. Her wrist had a strange and very beautiful black tattoo and her hand was warm. Even in the cold of Cylus, in a short sleeved dress, the woman was warm. "I was blessed by Famula, she put her mark on me. I'm always warm, I can regulate my blood temperature. Yours too, if I felt so inclined." She smiled at looked at him with an expression which few had seen on her face. "I see ghosts, too. They're everywhere. Souls who have not moved on. That is a gift from Famula, but if I did not know that, I would think I was hallucinating." Just like he did, she considered.

"I wonder, honestly, if what you are experiencing is to do with an Immortal marking you in some way. When these side effects started, can you think about whether you had any contact with anyone to do with an Immortal or if you had been involved in something which might draw attention?" In case he needed it, she reminded him of Vri's domains and waited to see what he said.

[Anos]

When he had finished speaking, Faith moved around the desk to kneel beside him. That wasn't a good sign.

He felt like people who had to give you bad news, especially nice people who had to give you bad news, seemed to want to get close, as if their proximity would make the news easier to take. His lips tightened slightly, and he braced himself for the worst. Gonna die, or loosing my mind? Which is it gonna be?

When she said there wasn't anything wrong with his brain, he deflated slightly, like a half-filled balloon. Death it is, then. His fingers crept up to rub at the medallion around his neck again, and he sent up a quick prayer to Vri.

When she explained about the triggers only happening sometimes, he nodded. That made sense, and it was something he was curious about too. It almost seemed to add to the nervousness, though- any person he passed could start one of his visions, and he couldn't seem to control himself afterwards. She ticked off all the things that couldn't be triggers, and he wondered what that left them with- what could it be then?

"Where did I get this?" He looked down to where it was still trapped between his fingers. "I'm...well I'm not sure. I've had it as long as I can remember- maybe from my mother?" He doubted that was the case- the orphanage would've told him if it were, but he didn't know where else it would've come from.

"No, I've never met anyone who worshipped him until last season, well after the first symptoms began."

He absorbed her words, feeling the heat emanating off her, and nodded slightly. "I mean it's possible." A heavy sigh. "But what Immortal would curse me with this? And why? This doesn't seem like a gift at all. The only thing that had happened in my life was..." His voice trailed off, and a look of suspicion crossed his face. "No, sorry. This medallion appeared in my barracks one day. I didn't have it as a child." His brows lowered further and further over his face.

He lifted his eyes up to Faith's, confusion in his gaze. "It was only a week before the first vision after I found it."

SOURCE

[Faith Augustin]

He'd had the medallion all his life? It wasn't that then, Faith thought and he said that it did not sound or feel like a blessing, more like a curse. In truth, she wasn't so sure. "Seeing the ghosts of those who have refused Vri's offer everywhere might be considered a curse by someone who didn't know why it was given to them?" She smiled and touched the tattoo on her wrist, "but Famula gave me that ability so that I could help them, serve them. It is a blessing, because I have the context." Lifting her shoulders in a slight shrug, Faith waited to see what he thought of that. "It sounds like what happens to you is potentially useful, if you can harness it."

Then, however, he changed his mind and told her that he had found the medallion in his barracks, a week before the first vision. The frown on his face darkened his features and Faith looked at Anos in silence for some time. There was no anger on her face, no concern about him lying to her. He did what he did because he chose to, that was as simple as that.

"So, it seems more likely, then, that the medallion and the visions are linked. It would be much easier for me to do my job if you told me that you do not want to, or will not answer certain questions. That's fine and that's your prerogative, but I don't want to be led down the wrong route. Is that acceptable?" She didn't say the words 'don't lie to me again', but she thought they were pretty clear.

Faith considered it, and sat back for a moment. "In case I missed something previously, would you explain to me exactly what happens when you experience either of these two things?" She frowned as she considered, but she explained why in case he thought she had some different motive. "When I listened to them before, I was listening for physiological or biological symptoms, clues towards specific conditions. I did not consider that you might be blessed or cursed by an Immortal and I'd just like to listen again, with that context in my mind, if that is acceptable to you."

Her silver eyes regarded him with a calm gaze and she added, "And if you are prepared to give me any details about how you came to have that medallion, rather than just finding it, that might help. Only if you are willing to, though and again, I'm just looking for a context or clue." That was up to him, she wasn't sure that he'd want to, but if he would it might help.

However, just as luck had it, at that moment came the call that there were a number of people injured in a boating accident and Faith apologised to Anos, but she had to make her way to help. She would catch up with him soon,
she promised. Right now, however, it was time for her to go and help downstairs.

[Kali'rial]

Thread Rewards:

Faith

Non-Skill Knowledge:
Anos: Has a medallion of Vri
Anos: Orphan
Anos: Reticent to discuss his medical history.

Loot:
N/A

Injuries/Overstepping:
N/A

Fame:
+2 Good deed (helping Anos)

Devotion:
N/A

Magic EXP:
No

Comments:
Totally good for collab skill points Nice little thread. The height differences amused me quite a bit, knowing myself how annoying this can be lol.