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WESTERN WALL - MIDDAY
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Nesseth walks his patrol route as scheduled, looking pretty attentive today, despite the amount of stuff he's still having to deal with elsewhere in town. He seems relatively at ease, even, as he strides along, just making sure nothing bothers approaching without the guards noticing, but civilization is slowly creeping in on the region, and wild animals are slowly becoming less and less likely to approach, which means more quiet days, like today.
Narrator: It's quiet. Too quiet.
Teis: "Nesseth!" A soft, strained voice calls out on the wind from behind Nesseth. Running along the wall, is Teis, attempting to catch up to Nesseth.
Nesseth blinks and comes to a stop when he catches the voice calling after him. He pauses and looks around, turning after a moment back down the way he'd just been walking. He raises a hand high up and waves as he calls back. "Teis? What's up?"
Teis continues to sprint, until she eventually comes to a sloppy, hap-hazard stop next to Nesseth, keeling over to rest her hands on her knees and panting heavily. "Huuuh. . .Huh. . .Gimme. . .A minute. . ." She speaks through her heavy breathing.
Nesseth gives Teis a bit of an awkward smile as she screeches to a halt next to him. "Uh, sorry, Teis... were you trying to catch up this entire time? I would have turned back around a couple of minutes from now..."
Teis: "Huff. . .Haa. . .Yes. . .Hooo.. . ." Teis exhales greatly one last time, before standing up and starting to fall into a more normal breathing pattern over the next minute or so. "I've, uh. Plume asked me to talk to you. And, uh, it's news worth running for."
Nesseth hums curiously, one of his eyebrows rising. "Plume asked? Uh... okay, what's this about, then?"
Teis: "It's about the elemental. Did Tarbin not tell you? Tarbin said he was going to tell you, but Plume was acting like you didn't know, so has Tarbin not told you? Wait, I said that already. . ."
Nesseth furrows his brow a bit. "What, that the elemental was alive? I'm seriously worried about Tarbin, Teis. The shock of that incident seems to have hit him harder than any of us, if he's certain she's still around."
Teis: "Oh. . .So you DO know. Well, good! That's all, then." Teis nods, sighing in relief. "Why are you miserable, then? Plume said you were miserable about it. And what's wrong with Tarbin? The entire thing DID cure his curse, after all."
Nesseth sighs and crosses his arms, still frowning. "Because the elemental died, Teis. Tarbin's utterly convinced she's still alive, and living in his head. I'm not miserable about it anymore, but the fact remains that I've got blood on my hands, now."
Teis: "No, no! No blood! I doubted Tarbin at first when he told me, but. . .I was able to verify his claim. I've seen Melia myself." Teis explains.
Nesseth appears dubious. "You were able to verify his claim. How? And who is 'Melia'?"
Teis: "Oh, sorry. Melia is the name of the elemental. It's, uh, certainly easier than calling her 'The Elemental'." Teis pauses. "I, uh. Well. Melia manifested herself, which I saw through the mana lenses. Then, I asked Tarbin to cut his flow of nature magic off of her. . .Or, well, Tarbin actually asked me. Um. Let me start over." Teis ahems. "I saw Melia, powered by Tarbin's nature magic. So I said it was just Tarbin fueling the elemental with Nature's flow. But then Tarbin told me to fuel the elemental with my nature magic instead - He's been teaching me, that was part of the deal we made with one another when I agreed to break his curse - And I was able to actually hear Melia talk. Same voice as in the garden. We talked for a brief moment. "Then he stopped fueling her. So he was no longer connected to Melia at all. Then I asked Melia to make something grow, and she did, without any connection to Tarbin either, nor did I feel magic passing through me. So either Tarbin can make something grow through my own hand without me knowing about it, or. . .Melia's real. After that, Melia faded away. My nature magic isn't strong enough to sustain her for very long, not like Tarbin's. That's probably why she anchored herself to him."
Nesseth hums, still frowning as he listens to Teis' story. "Your mana lens... You mean that set of goggles you wore when we were at your lab last time?"
Teis nods. "Yeah. So I could confirm the magic at play, see where it's coming from, all that stuff."
Nesseth considers the statement for a few quiet seconds before answering. "Then... would you be willing to let me make use of the lens to see this for myself?"
Teis tilts her head, humming, "Would. . .You know how to use them?"
Nesseth shrugs as he glances up at the pair of goggles resting upon his brow. "If they're anything like the ones I use while hunting, I'm sure I could figure it out pretty fast."
Teis curiously looks at Nesseth's goggles, considering them, though not knowing much about them, "Maybe? I'm not entirely sure. Either way, I can walk you through it if it comes to that. . .So long as you don't break them. Maybe, uh, don't tell Della? She doesn't need more stress."
Nesseth tilts his head. "Don't tell her I used your goggles? Um... sure. I mean, not like I'll be using them while you aren't around, anyway, right?"
Teis nods affirmatively. "Yes. The good ones are apparently expensive enough that when I took them out of the lab just one time, she noticed immediately then tracked me down in town to take them back. So yeah. Della-Levels of expensive, they are. I have these cheaper ones for when I'm not in the lab, but something like Melia really deserves the good ones."
Teis motions to the more minimalist, casual glasses she's wearing right now. Designed to be more 'wearable' and not look out of place.
Nesseth nods. "Well, in that case, it'd be easier to get Tarbin back to the lab for a little bit just so I can see this, and then Della won't get on your case about the lens being taken too far out of the lab."
Teis: "Yeah, that sounds good. Do you want to talk to Tarbin about it, or should I?" Teis questions.
Nesseth hums thoughtfully. "If you want, you can. I won't be finishing my patrol for a bit still, so if you find him before me, we can figure something out sooner."
Teis: "Yeah. I'll jump on down and let him know, I suppose." Teis nods.
Nesseth glances over the side of the wall for a moment, then gives Teis an uncertain look. "You... don't mean that literally, I hope? I really wouldn't want Della mad at me for letting you take a dive off the wall just to shortcut over to Tarbin's hut."
Teis is already walking over to the edge of the wall, placing her hands atop it's perimeter in preparation to mantle it. "What? I'll be fine. I do this all the time."
Nesseth moves to accompany Teis over to the wall's edge. "Well, if you say so. If you get hurt, I'll take you to Plume's clinic of course, but Della better not get angry at me for it."
Teis shuffles her way up onto the edge, looking back at Nesseth and grinning at him. "Oh, don't worry. She will! Bye!" She jumps off.
Nesseth leans over the edge to watch as Teis falls over the lip of the wall, mostly to ensure she's actually not going to get hurt, and partially because... well, curiosity.
Teis lands safely on all fours! Her lab attire may not take kindly to the dirt, but, eh, the staff'll take care of that! It feels good to be reckless. And a cat. Meow.