![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
runicloreDefinitely a fragment. I'd be playing Suikoden V, but figured I should give the poor PS2 a break. ^^
Winter hadn't yet left the northern reaches of Harmonia, though the fourth month was nearly gone. They had a list of ruins to survey that began with the snow-stranded Northern Complex, and when it became clear the weather wasn't going to accomodate them, Luc decided to proceed - though Sarah thought even he was starting to regret that decision now. The sun was high in the sky, verging on its afternoon descent, and the air was still painful to breath. The stones were covered in ice. Her hands were frozen and pale from resting so long on the door blocking their way.
It appeared smooth and made of bricks in imitation of the walls, and she couldn't recall seeing any reports that indicated other scholars suspected it was anything special. They called this a dead-end ruin that was only worth preserving for its history, never knowing what they were missing. She might have laughed if she could spare the concentration for it.
"Sarah...?"
She shook her head briefly to answer Luc's unspoken question: no, she wasn't making any progress in unsealing the door. Even sparing breath for a 'yes' or a 'no' would have diverted too much of her attention. It was a stubborn spell, too liquid and flexible, and if she let go of it even for a moment it would change, and they would have to start all over again.
But as exhausting as that prospect sounded, she was ready to give up. They'd been standing there for hours, Sarah with her hands pressed against the mandala carved into the limestone, with nothing to show for it - the seal wasn't even fraying at the edges.
There was a sigh over her shoulder, and he said, "Let it go."
Sarah released the magic with relief and fell gracelessly to her knees. The cold seeped through the layers of her cloak and skirts to chill her legs. "I'm sorry."
"It's only an experiment." He sat down beside her and pulled his gloves off, taking her hands between his own to warm them. "Do you know what it is?"
"Something very simple." She sighed sharply and squeezed her eyes shut when he rubbed her hands. It was an effort not to snatch them back. "I know it must be. It isn't constructed like- like.. I don't know."
Luc was quiet for a moment, and his hands still. His face was a shade paler than usual, but otherwise he didn't seem affected as much by the cold. She couldn't help envying that just a little. "Have you seen other doors like this?" he asked finally. "In other ruins?"
Though Sarah didn't want to think about that, the images came immediately to the fore. Her memories before her arrival at the tower were indistinct to her waking mind - visions of the temple and the places she visited before that only came to visit her in the realm of nightmares, and even then they were hazy and almost unrecognizable. But the ruins - every one - were picture perfect and clear as day.
"I saw many things." She started to shake her head. "Brighter seals, louder ones. Very strong ones. I couldn't find the words to explain them." And she still couldn't, it seemed, even with an academic vocabulary. What on earth could she liken the experience to when there was nothing accesible to the five senses that could rival a well-built magic seal? "This one is weak. I don't think it will stand in our way if we just teleport--" she paused, then sighed again. "But I know that isn't the point."
He released her hands and twisted around to examine the door. "You're right, it is... odd."
Sarah pulled her gloves on and tried to flex her fingers. "What do you mean?"
"It isn't a network protecting whatever's in there. It's just the door, correct?"
"Yes."
Luc rose with a wince and held his hand out to help her up. "Do you sense anything beyond it? Guardians, traps--"
"I... I don't know." She tried to ignore the seal and see beyond. "I really couldn't say from here."
*
Definitely not my day for writing. Pff.
Winter hadn't yet left the northern reaches of Harmonia, though the fourth month was nearly gone. They had a list of ruins to survey that began with the snow-stranded Northern Complex, and when it became clear the weather wasn't going to accomodate them, Luc decided to proceed - though Sarah thought even he was starting to regret that decision now. The sun was high in the sky, verging on its afternoon descent, and the air was still painful to breath. The stones were covered in ice. Her hands were frozen and pale from resting so long on the door blocking their way.
It appeared smooth and made of bricks in imitation of the walls, and she couldn't recall seeing any reports that indicated other scholars suspected it was anything special. They called this a dead-end ruin that was only worth preserving for its history, never knowing what they were missing. She might have laughed if she could spare the concentration for it.
"Sarah...?"
She shook her head briefly to answer Luc's unspoken question: no, she wasn't making any progress in unsealing the door. Even sparing breath for a 'yes' or a 'no' would have diverted too much of her attention. It was a stubborn spell, too liquid and flexible, and if she let go of it even for a moment it would change, and they would have to start all over again.
But as exhausting as that prospect sounded, she was ready to give up. They'd been standing there for hours, Sarah with her hands pressed against the mandala carved into the limestone, with nothing to show for it - the seal wasn't even fraying at the edges.
There was a sigh over her shoulder, and he said, "Let it go."
Sarah released the magic with relief and fell gracelessly to her knees. The cold seeped through the layers of her cloak and skirts to chill her legs. "I'm sorry."
"It's only an experiment." He sat down beside her and pulled his gloves off, taking her hands between his own to warm them. "Do you know what it is?"
"Something very simple." She sighed sharply and squeezed her eyes shut when he rubbed her hands. It was an effort not to snatch them back. "I know it must be. It isn't constructed like- like.. I don't know."
Luc was quiet for a moment, and his hands still. His face was a shade paler than usual, but otherwise he didn't seem affected as much by the cold. She couldn't help envying that just a little. "Have you seen other doors like this?" he asked finally. "In other ruins?"
Though Sarah didn't want to think about that, the images came immediately to the fore. Her memories before her arrival at the tower were indistinct to her waking mind - visions of the temple and the places she visited before that only came to visit her in the realm of nightmares, and even then they were hazy and almost unrecognizable. But the ruins - every one - were picture perfect and clear as day.
"I saw many things." She started to shake her head. "Brighter seals, louder ones. Very strong ones. I couldn't find the words to explain them." And she still couldn't, it seemed, even with an academic vocabulary. What on earth could she liken the experience to when there was nothing accesible to the five senses that could rival a well-built magic seal? "This one is weak. I don't think it will stand in our way if we just teleport--" she paused, then sighed again. "But I know that isn't the point."
He released her hands and twisted around to examine the door. "You're right, it is... odd."
Sarah pulled her gloves on and tried to flex her fingers. "What do you mean?"
"It isn't a network protecting whatever's in there. It's just the door, correct?"
"Yes."
Luc rose with a wince and held his hand out to help her up. "Do you sense anything beyond it? Guardians, traps--"
"I... I don't know." She tried to ignore the seal and see beyond. "I really couldn't say from here."
*
Definitely not my day for writing. Pff.