(The Eighty-First Day) Chapter Four: Suffer [Solo]

[Elhaym]

61st Day of Winter, 510 AV He had given her time. Kota knew what had transpired between Tomo and Pain just a short time ago. He had sat idly by, watching Pain sit motionless on the floor of the empty training even as Tomo passed him on his way out. She needed to be questioned, challenged, confronted... Tomo had accomplished all of this in one fell moment, conquering Pain's psyche when he demanded more of her. Be that as it may, it is not so simple for one to just say "I care" and make it so. Kota knew Pain was struggling with this notion as she sat, along and motionless. He had given her time. Now, she needed to face her doubt and move forward with the day. "Pain. It is time to move on." Kota called from the doorway, watching as her shoulders slumped for a moment. Pain pulled herself together, rising to her feet and turning quickly in a brisk walk towards him. She stopped a few feet short of him, pumping her shoulders up and standing erect. Kota could see it in her eyes that she was still upset; they were puffy and red, and her nose was near raw from her constant rubbing. He said nothing about what had transpired between her and Tomo. That was her moment in time, not his. "Unfortunately, I believe the next class will be the most difficult for you of the day... perhaps, the most difficult moment you will experience as a Shinya. I speak of Projection, one of the pillars of our order... such a simple name, it has. Yet, you will soon find that it's fickle name is but a label placed upon by those who view it from afar. You must go forward with this. I won't allow you to avoid this experience, no matter what you are feeling right now... be it doubt, fear, anger, or sadness." Kota said, clasping his hands behind his back as he spoke in a tone that seemed to both command and harbor compassion. However, he would not allow her to back out of this. Kota had a feeling after what she had just experienced that she would falter, perhaps wishing to end her trials for the day... "I'm ready, Dian." Pain said, sniffling and rubbing her nose with the top of her hand. When she looked up at Kota, he saw a stern resolve in her face. So, she hadn't faltered yet. Yet he couldn't help but ask himself... how would she feel after her next class? You could scarcely even call it a class. It was an experience. "Very well. You'll find your peers gathering in the same room you started in this morning with Shai. I have several things to attend to... but I'll check on you later, once your studies are finished for the day. Good luck, Acolyte." Kota said, bowing halfway and quickly turning on his feet. In truth, he had little to do at the moment. He simply wanted Pain to face the next few hours of her life on her own, and to struggle with only her own power at hand. As Kota turned and left, Pain made her way down the halls of the Shinyama Pavilion. She kept her head high, nodding slightly as she passed other Acolytes who traveled in small packs. She was alone. The new girl. The mysterious loner who looked like them, but wasn't. Rei and Hashin awaited her near the doorway. Surprisingly, Hashin was the one who spoke up first. He had said little to her other than his initial offering in the first class of the morning, citing that he had assumed her to be an ignorant farm girl who would join the Acolytes for a free meal and an escape from the labor of the rice patties. "Pain, we're glad you made it. Dama Lai's instruction will begin in only a few chimes... listen, you've managed to impress us all today. Just know that in here, things will be different. Okay? Don't be afraid, we will be there when it's over to help you. We've all been through this." Compassionate words from Hashin, and it was a bit surprising. It was odd, having people she would consider strangers looking out for her. She knew that this next course involved Projection, a type of magic. She had briefly examined a treatise on the use of the Flux, but could scarcely understand anything within save the devastating effects it could have on the user's body. Despite, she wasn't hesitant. But no matter what Hashin said, she couldn't help but wonder why everyone seemed so concerned for her. What exactly were they going to do to her inside this room?

[Elhaym]

The air was thick, like water... swirling shapes cast in iridescent glow formed and collapsed all around Pain, slowly jumbling together to create something of substance. She stood there, finally understanding where she was. It was a small clearing, surrounding in darkness cast by sketchy overhanging trees... yet oddly, she could see. The grass, the rocks, wind... all the details were scrambled, but she knew what they were. Then she was there. A black and white monster, her body grainy as if a mixture of charcoal and ink. Only her face held any notability, but it too was odd... almost as if it were a drawing, or a sketch. Pain's entire view shifted, as if time had rushed forward and plunged over the edge of a cliff, accelerating her wildly into a new present. Her brother lay there, against the same rock from before. But he was gone. Pain's breath came heavy, seeing her dead brother's body laying there... and she turned to flee. The demon woman was back, this time much closer. Now it was not her brother within her clouded vision, but her father. They were fighting! Pain struggled to move forward, to help her father. Her feet were useless as if they were part of the earth's foundation, and she could do nothing but watch in horror as the shrouded face of her nemesis impaled her father on a blade. Flash forward again, the same discombobulating shift in time. Now it was Pain who was fighting. They were on a mountain side, fighting on a narrow ledge. Pain's body was sluggish, slow and unresponsive. Every attack was met with an expert defense, and nothing seemed to work, until... red. Pain looked to her torso, and found the sharp end of a blade piercing her stomach. She was held aloft, struggling feebly against the superior might of her opponent. Then, the edge of the cliff. She could hear words, but they held no meaning. Falling, the feeling of weightlessness as she was pushed off of her enemies blade. And as she fell, she twisted her body to see that face one last time. It was eerie, not a real face but a simple drawing of one. As the face faded away into the distance and Pain's death beckoned... She woke. The ghostly images of her nightmare melted into the bare surroundings of the Shinyama Pavilion as her eyes fluttered open. "I told you to focus on your breathing Acolyte, not take a nap." a firm voice resounded, and a sharp pain in the back of her head indicated that she had just been reprimanded. Dama Lai had popped her on the skull with her knuckles to wake her from her far too deep meditation. Upon entering the class, Pain had immediately been separated from the rest of the Acolytes and taken into a smaller chamber within the Pavilion. Dama Lai had asked her if Kota had spoken to her about what she would be doing, which Pain had replied that he had. Of course, Kota had been pretty vague... but Lai's tone seemed a tad hostile when it came to her mentor, and Pain hadn't wanted to cause any trouble. Thus, she had simply nodded and pretended to understand full well what was going on. But she didn't. When Lai had instructed her lay flat on her back with her hands clasped at her chest, Pain had done so with a raised eyebrow. When Lai had told her to close her eyes, ease her muscles and begin to focus on her breathing, Pain had done so with butterflies in her stomach that seemed gain fervor with every passing second. Yet, she was weary from the day... and soon focused breathing had given way to restless nightmare. Lai seemed annoyed, but not so much at Pain. The situation seemed to annoy her, being in this room with her. When she spoke again, Pain began to understand what may have been bothering her. "Never would I subject an Acolyte who can scarcely attempt to meditate without falling asleep to this... for your sake, I hope they are correct in rushing this." Lai gestured for Pain to continue her breathing intervals, a sharp motion that halted any attempt at conversation between the two. It had been a verbal outlet, a way for Lai to release some apparent frustration. What was so wrong with making Pain lay down and meditate? Several minutes passed, Pain's eyes closed softly and her breathing finally finding a rhythm. Yet, her mind wasn't quite so peaceful. She was intensely focused, drawing on the feeling she had briefly obtained with Kota earlier in the day. And she may have succeeded too, if it wasn't for that incessant itching. Or was it an itch? Itches always seemed to go away after a few seconds, but this one was growing worse. Surely Lai wouldn't let a spider or anything wretched like that crawl on her hand while Pain was laying there, so she ignored it. Then the itch became a tug... and that is when Pain knew something was not quite right. Because her right hand was no longer clasped with her left, but floating in the air. When Pain's eyes shot open and witnessed her physical hand still resting peacefully atop her chest, her jaw went slack and her eyelids rolled back as far as they could go. Pain tried wordlessly to comprehend the sensation in her body, a mounting terror seizing her. And in only a few seconds later, the sensation became a full blown assault. Her arms were numb, and yet they were also hoisted above her as if she had thrust them into the air. Yet they also laid clasped on her chest. Pain didn't know what was happening. She couldn't hold it back anymore. The Shinyama Pavilion would be blasted by the most blood curdling scream most within it's walls had ever heard.

[Elhaym]

Pain's lungs were screaming for air, and at last her voice was stymied. She drew breath as she lay there, panicked and afraid. Her heart was racing, her brow thick with sweat. She couldn't understand the sensation in her body, feeling her limbs yet also unable to feel them, sensing their presence above her yet seeing them somewhere else. It was sensory overload. Her body was her most prized possession. She was not above materialistic wants, but she had always valued her physique. Countless injuries both major and minor had never stopped her from rehabbing her body back to perfection, and then pushing it further. It wasn't something that she forced on others; rarely would she show it off. It was merely something that was hers, and hers alone. Yet here, laying on the ground in the tiny bare room, she was watching her body become distorted and seemingly destroyed. As the air rushed into her lungs, Pain readied herself to blast the room with her voice yet again. Something muffled her before she could, closing around her jaw and holding it tight. Her screams were stymied, and Pain finally caught sight of Dama Lai as she sat a few feet away from Pain. Her arms hung limp at her sides as if lifeless, but her eyes... her eyes were far from lifeless. They were wide open, almost terrified. "Calm yourself, Acolyte! You knew what to expect when you came into this room, you told me yourself!" Lai yelled, clenching her teeth together as she finished speaking and continuing to strain. Yet Pain could not tell what she was straining for, and even as she spoke the sensation seemed to grow stronger. It wasn't just her arms any longer. Her entire body from her neck down was consumed, and she felt as if she were laying on her head with her body suspended in the air. But the fact remained... her physical body still laid just as it had before. What Pain could not comprehend was that her astral body was being awakened. Lai was using her own astral limbs to reach deep inside, and separate Pain's physical body from it's astral equivalent. She had started with Pain's hands, gently reaching in and working Pain's spectral limbs from their flesh and blood home. As she had worked her way to the arms, Pain had begun to panic and scream. Lai's only course of action had been to slowly peel away the astral limbs of her legs beneath the knee, and extend them to Pain's face. She had tightly held them there, closing Pain's mouth and stifling her scream. Yet this had only been met with more panic. Had Pain been able, she probably would have jumped up and fled. The breaking point came when Pain saw it. A faint outline of energy, glowing like a thick fog touched by sunlight. It grew more visible by the second, an amalgam of the human form. Unlike her physical body, Pain's projected body was quite weak and frail. Just being pulled free and held aloft by another had already drained it of it's stamina, and so it had begun to shimmer in the visible spectrum. Pain couldn't comprehend it. The terror of the situation bested her. She fainted. *** "What do you MEAN you didn't tell her?!" A scream. Pain's eyeslids fluttered open, but she was exhausted. Disoriented and groggy, she ceased to struggled with her eyes and allowed them to shut. She could hear two voices, rapid footsteps... Lai. and Kota. "I didn't want to scare her. It was a gamble, I know... but I just thought, well... if she is anything like-" "How dare you! How dare you!" More rapid footsteps, a struggle. The sound of a man's back being slammed against a wall. "You would put me in such a position on a hunch?! You ignorant bastard! If you could have seen the look in her eyes, you would understand. She was terrified. She probably thought I was killing her! You only heard her scream, but you didn't see her face. You bastard... if you think that allowing someone to undergo something like this without at least telling them what is going to happen is going to make it easier for them, you are a fool. You thought she would be scared? Idiot!" Lai yelled, her force switching from an aggressive growl to a full blown yell multiple times as she spoke. Pain could hear Kota shuffling, and guessed in her near-drunken state that she was holding him against the wall. "I know it seems asinine now, but I just thought..." "You were wrong. Thank Zintila for her mercy, had you not come when you did to help me reposition her correctly she could have been maimed for life. Do you know how far I had to go just to keep her under control, to keep her from hurting herself?! You're lucky I wasn't crippled as well. Kota, you idiot..." "Lai... i'm sorry." "Do not apologize to me, Kota. Tend to your Acolyte. It is her you should feel sorry for. The poor girl... I won't ever forget that face." More footsteps, except this time they were growing more faint. Lai had left, and was half yelling to herself in Lhavitian as her voice faded. Pain found herself wondering what had transpired just now... Lai was not young, probably almost twice Kota's age. Her face was rich with wrinkles and lines, and her words sharper than a blade. She hadn't understood the conversation, but it was clear that Lai had been very unhappy with Kota. Pain was still thinking of how such an old woman had held a fit man like Kota against a wall and lectured him when she blacked out yet again.

[Elhaym]

She awoke in her room within the Pavilion. The lighting was dim, but it seemed intensely bright as Pain opened her weary eyes. How long had she been asleep? As she slowly lifted herself upwards, she felt a strange sensation. It was distant, but there all the same. Pain struggled to understand the feeling... no, more of an awareness than anything else. "Your astral body was awakened. That's what you're feeling right now. It's a bit odd, but it will become less prominent over time." Pain turned her head towards the source of the voice. Hashin sat at her side, nodding silently as if to punctuate his statement. What he said didn't make much sense, but then again she didn't really know anything about Projection. "I... hey, i'm okay..." Pain said, momentarily forgetting her confusion when she realized her body was moving under her own power just fine. She flexed her arms, rotated her shoulders and wiggled her toes. Everything seemed to be in order. "Yes... Kota explained to us what happened. And... well, we heard the scream, too. We were very worried..." A female voice drifted into Pain's ear, and she turned to find Rei sitting at her other side. She was in the middle of wringing out a damp cloth in her hands, and Pain noticed that her forehead was a bit moist as well. Had they been taking care of her? "Hey... thank you, guys... I just don't really understand what happened, is all." "Understandable." Hashin replied. "Dian Kota wanted us to make sure you were alright before he spoke to you. He is waiting outside... we were told to alert him whenever you woke. Don't worry, you're fine." With that, the two Acolytes rose and departed. The wooden door slid shut, and Pain could see their two silhouettes through the thin paper that composed the bulk of the entry that they were speaking to a larger figure. Kota. A bit of time passed before he stepped through the door, closing it gently behind him. "I'm glad to see you're okay. Pain... I can explain. I understand if you're upset... but I assure you, what I did was in your best interest." "Oh... is that so..." Pain said through clenched teeth. It had been one of the most miserable experiences in her life. Something that she had been completely unprepared mentally to handle. So, Pain did what any woman would have done in her situation. "Urghh..!" She cried out, doubling over in agony. She rolled to her knees, and bent over while clutching her stomach with both hands. Kota's eyes nearly flew out of his head as he rushed to her, literally skidding on his knees to a stop and placing an arm on her shoulder. He began asking what was wrong, but Pain just shook her head as if she didn't know. She reached out to him, placed a hand on his shoulder as if ground herself... ... for the bodyblow she delivered right into his gut. Now it was Kota who doubled over, having fallen for her ploy. He began to cough, but his coughing actually deteriorated into a hacking laugh. "Uh... okay... okay, I think I deserved that... really though, to attack your mentor twice in one day..." "Yeah... you did. Sorry, I hit you kind of hard." Pain said, leaning back on her folded legs and straightening her back. In truth she felt fine, if not a bit tired. The thought that she had just struck a superior didn't really hit her until she'd already done it... the Shinya lifestyle and hierarchy was still a new concept to her. Kota however, seemed to accept it as just desserts. They shared a warm moment of silence, Pain grinning at her mentor as he wheezed and groaned. A bit odd in a way, but it worked for them. "Well... now that you've... ahem, gotten your frustrations out..." Kota said, sitting straight and cocking a bit of a smile. His Acolyte was green as grass and rough around the edges, but in a way he greatly appreciated her honesty; verbally, emotionally, and physically. "I'll explain." And he did. He told Pain that he had seen the way she walked, the way she carried herself. He had immediately sensed that her body was important to her, and she had seemed to know nothing about magics in general. It was customary for an Acolyte to be initiated immediately upon rising from the rank of Viraya. Ordinarily this would take place at a much younger age, and with the inductee knowing full well what the experience would feel like. Pain had no such knowledge. Kota told her that he thought laying all of it out for her only moments before the event would instill fear in her, knowing the way she felt about her body by observing her actions. Though Pain listened through tightly clenched teeth, she consented that she would never have agreed to go through that had she known. Kota further explained Projection and elaborated on what Pain already knew. They spoke at length on the subject, though it mostly consisted of Pain nodding and Kota droning on. Before long, Pain's eyes were heavy. She could barely understand Kota's words anymore. "Dian... I'm too tired... to keep..." "Ah, yes. Well, you see... Projection will cause fatigue like this, especially at the level you projected today. Despite the fact that it was guided by another, it was indeed you doing the brunt of the work there... so that's understandable." Kota said, rising from his kneeling position and stretching his back. "Oh, Pain. One last thing." Kota said, reaching into the folds of his sash and pulling free something wrapped in blue cloth that had been held in place there. As he unfolded it, Pain recognized the journal her father had given to her. She had left it in the car of the Shinsa and the Sanim, and honestly had forgotten about it. "We've taken everything we needed from this... so I wanted to give it back to you. I spoke with Sosho at the Bharani Library about this text. Though it's a bit crude, he seemed interested on having the information provided within for his records... this means if you give it to him, you'd have access to the library itself. A very worthwhile opportunity, indeed. So, tomorrow after your studies, I was thinking we could... oh." Pain's head hung down, eyes closed softly and a light snore radiating from her lips. She'd been more tired than he thought, apparently. Kota gently pushed Pain to her back, and placed the small blanket the Acolytes were provided over her. He looked at her sleeping form for just a moment. She was a warrior, pure and simple. She lacked finesse in her words, and she struggled with the formality of the place. Her understanding of everything she would experience and be expected to live by as a Shinya was undeniably basic. Yet, as he watched her drifting further and further into sleep, Kota could scarcely remember a day when he felt more content as a Shinya of Lhavit. He had his work cut out for him, as usual. But this Acolyte... Elhaym Edina Vormav, alias Pain... she would be worth the trouble. Udasai had spoken the truth; she would be a great Shinya. He knew it to be the truth, for he knew something she did not. "Goodnight, Elhaym." Kota whispered, taking his leave. Today had been the eighty-first day of her journey from Syliras. It had been a monumental day for Pain, but tomorrow a day just as this one would come. She had much to strive for, and much to prove. And he would stand at her side every step of the way. -FIN-

[Ophelia]

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Thread Award. ‎‎<3 ‎ ‎EXPERIENCE.‎ ‎‎+2 Projection ‎+1 Deception‎ ‎LORES.‎ Being the new girl Dying in a dream Sleeping in class Sheer terror Fainting Faking sick ‎ADDITIONAL NOTES.‎ I don't care that Kota planned to be beside her every step of the way. WHERE WAS THE KISS! Otherwise, good job. But the kiss, seriously -.- ‎Don't hesitate to pm me with questions, queries, or anything else!‎ Love,‎ Ophelia <3

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