[ Jill places a hand on his shoulder, speaks to him, carefully, gently, but Joshua gives no reaction or sign that he'd heard her, only flinching slightly. A guilt that’s far too heavy and that he’s carried far too long suffocates him, blinds him, deafens him, trapping him in his own nightmare.
For whatever mercy that it is, he isn't priming instantly, unlike when they usually call on their powers. His body far too exhausted, not having the strength to properly channel the flux and surge of aether. Instead, it spreads like a wildfire through his body, slowly catching and consuming every piece him until he's naught to be but fire itself.
So he continues to fall further into ruin.
His fear is palpable, taking the form in the aether and heat that emanates from him, hanging in the air like embers from a hearth. Low flames start to rise along his body, rolling across the cracks in his skin, his clothes, but not burning him, rather as a part of him. They lick at Jill’s hand where she touches him, singeing the bedsheets under him.
His breathing turns uneven, labored, petrified, soft whimpers with fear as in his mind's eye, the fire warps Clive's image, twisting and pulling at it like a mirage in the Velkroy until Joshua sees his brother, dressed in a Sanbreque uniform, his brand illuminated by the fires around him. The life in his eyes is gone, filled with the pain and anger of a man who was forced into a life of servitude by their mother, left to rot in the Sanbreque army, forced to kill, with no desire to live, but only doing it that he might avenge his brother. ]
Clive, I-- [ His voice meek, wavering with his tears and echoing slightly, the Phoenix buried just underneath. Falling further. He turns his cheek harder into the pillow, away from Jill, curling in on himself. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-01-23 09:42 am (UTC)For whatever mercy that it is, he isn't priming instantly, unlike when they usually call on their powers. His body far too exhausted, not having the strength to properly channel the flux and surge of aether. Instead, it spreads like a wildfire through his body, slowly catching and consuming every piece him until he's naught to be but fire itself.
So he continues to fall further into ruin.
His fear is palpable, taking the form in the aether and heat that emanates from him, hanging in the air like embers from a hearth. Low flames start to rise along his body, rolling across the cracks in his skin, his clothes, but not burning him, rather as a part of him. They lick at Jill’s hand where she touches him, singeing the bedsheets under him.
His breathing turns uneven, labored, petrified, soft whimpers with fear as in his mind's eye, the fire warps Clive's image, twisting and pulling at it like a mirage in the Velkroy until Joshua sees his brother, dressed in a Sanbreque uniform, his brand illuminated by the fires around him. The life in his eyes is gone, filled with the pain and anger of a man who was forced into a life of servitude by their mother, left to rot in the Sanbreque army, forced to kill, with no desire to live, but only doing it that he might avenge his brother. ]
Clive, I-- [ His voice meek, wavering with his tears and echoing slightly, the Phoenix buried just underneath. Falling further. He turns his cheek harder into the pillow, away from Jill, curling in on himself. ]