001. (v2) [audio + commentlog/open]
A...Again?
[Xanth lets out a hollow, bitter laugh.]
I... n-no, you, you have to be k--kidding. I-I already d--did this. M-My world was... a-already gone. Th--The End took it. K-K'lai, a-and Grams, they... th-they were... already gone.
[He takes in a shuddering breath. His chest tightens, his voice cracks.]
N--Now you say it... it's all g-gone? Unmade? D--Didn't ev--even-- h-happen? How!? I-- I lived that! It-- it can't-- not again--
[There's a small gasp, like a prelude to a sob, but then Xanth slams the book shut.
Xanth takes his record, takes his key, and immediately sets out into the Keep. He's tired, he's so fucking tired, but he has to know if anyone else got snatched into this mess too.]
[Xanth lets out a hollow, bitter laugh.]
I... n-no, you, you have to be k--kidding. I-I already d--did this. M-My world was... a-already gone. Th--The End took it. K-K'lai, a-and Grams, they... th-they were... already gone.
[He takes in a shuddering breath. His chest tightens, his voice cracks.]
N--Now you say it... it's all g-gone? Unmade? D--Didn't ev--even-- h-happen? How!? I-- I lived that! It-- it can't-- not again--
[There's a small gasp, like a prelude to a sob, but then Xanth slams the book shut.
Xanth takes his record, takes his key, and immediately sets out into the Keep. He's tired, he's so fucking tired, but he has to know if anyone else got snatched into this mess too.]
[Commentlog]
[They'd reached the wall, and the little gate that would take them through to the thermal pools.]
It's not far. It's just through here and past the library, in the Great Keep.
[Commentlog]
[Xanth is silent for a few more steps, but then he pipes up again:]
B-But... um. Y-Yeah. The sh-ship was th--the e-- M.S. E-El--Elegante.
[Such an innocent sounding name for such a threatening place. Xanth hopes Kairi will end her questions there, but he suspects they won't. Kairi is a curious girl, after all.]
[Commentlog]
[That it was a ship between worlds is pretty obvious. But Kairi wants to know if it actually stopped anywhere.]
[Commentlog]
[Xanth thoughtfully frowns down at the ground, cogs turning in his brain.]
I'm... I-I'm not... r-really sure. I--I think it did, b-but it was... h-hard to t--tell.
W-We... we only e-ever stopped t-twice, though. A-At-- at least w-when... I was th-there.
[Commentlog]
What kinds of places did you visit?
[Maybe one of them was somewhere she would remember.]
[Commentlog]
[Xanth's voice falters.]
...d-deserted.
[Commentlog]
[Kairi misses his voice failing. She's focused on the path ahead of them. Once they round the corner of the library, they'll be able to see the entrance to the Keep. She glances back to check how Xanth's walking and it's then that she catches sight of his face.]
Weren't they?
[Commentlog]
Th--the first one w--was-- r-really nice.
[The deserted one, not so much, but he's not going to tell her about that.]
[Commentlog]
[The answer is oddly specific but she doesn't press it. If he doesn't want to talk about it then she won't make him.]
The infirmary's just through here.
[And she points across the small courtyard to the little side door in the Keep's ground floor.]
[Commentlog]
He looks to where she points, then nods quickly.]
O-Okay. I, uh, I can m-make it from-- from here, I, I-- I think.
[Commentlog]
[She takes a couple of steps back, but doesn't yet turn away.]
I'll see you around, okay?
[Commentlog]
Or to fall apart.
He looks to Kairi and feels a terrible sense of longing. Were she the girl he knew, he would want nothing more than for her to be by his side. She would provide comfort instead of causing a pain in Xanth's chest.
But he's sorry.]
Th-- th-thank you. I-I-- I app--preciate this. A--A lot.
I-I'll... see you.
[He tries for a smile, but it's so insincere, and he can't lie to Kairi like that.
And so he goes.]
[Commentlog]
[She nods. It's probably more emphatic than it needs to be, but she is determined to patch things up with him... However weird it is.]
Okay. Well, bye.
[And she turns, setting off toward the barracks.]
[Commentlog]
Thirty feet. Twenty feet. Ten.
Xanth yanks open the door and rushes inside. His eyes are blurred with tears and something in his chest is tight, like grief has grown hands and is crushing his heart.
So far, he'd found no one from the M.S. Elegante that he knew. This Lord Deior had deemed only Xanth fit to save - but why? He's little more than a broken boy. Ironhide would have been a better choice. Or Vie. Or Gideon. Or, hell, even Jinx was more capable than Xanth.
And now his family was gone. Kairi was gone.
They were all gone.
His shoulders shake with a broken sob and, covering his eyes, Xanth slumps against the door.]
[Commentlog]
I beg your pardon. What are you doing there?
[Commentlog]
But when the door pulls out from behind him, he can't help colliding with Isabel. Immediately he stumbles away, wiping his face and sniffling.]
S--Sorry, s-s--sorry--
[He backs up a step. He must look such a mess, covered in blood, tears, and seawater. He takes a breath and it's meant to be steadying, but the sharp gasp it comes out as is anything but.]
I-I, uh, I-- a-are you th-the--the d-doc--doctor?
[Commentlog]
[She had been carrying a stack of fresh laundry and she sets it down now. She needn't ask if he needs the physician. He is crying a filthy.]
The physician will be returning shortly.
[She pulls a handkerchief from the pile of laundry and offers it to him.]
Dry your tears.
[Commentlog]
He glances back and spies a cot just a few feet away. He takes those few steps back, then sits.]
Th-th-- thanks.
[Excuse him just a moment as he blows his nose.]
[Commentlog]
How did you come to be so injured?
[Commentlog]
[Talking of the battle with The End comes easier with this woman than it did with Kairi. Then again, Isabel wasn't there. Xanth hadn't been dragged away from her side or give her a hasty kiss on a sinking ship.
He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. One hand hangs, the cloth crumpled in his grip, and Xanth lifts the other to rub his temples with his thumb and forefinger.]
B-But I've... h-had worse.
[Commentlog]
Still, if he is so new that his wounds are still fresh, better she set him to rights to begin with.]
And you are safe here. You will have time to heal. Provided that you do not provoke further confrontations.
[Commentlog]
Then again, no crewmember had ever said the Elegante was safe.
Still, casting his gaze down again, Xanth scoffs.]
I-- I-I'll-- try. M-My luck's... i-it could b-be better.
[Commentlog]
Tell me, how long have you been here?
[Commentlog]
[And yet it feels like so much longer. Xanth is so, so tired, but he doesn't know if he can sleep.
Insomnia's a bitch.
At least his tears seem to have dried up. He blinks, then just... stares into space. But he keeps the conversation going.]
How-- h-how long-- h-have you b-been here?
[Commentlog]
I am Lady Isabel, the Keep's chatelaine.
[She drew herself up and stared down her nose at him.]
I have been here longer than I care to count.
[Or at least, longer than she cares to tell him.]
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