Xena Mythriel Al'vyon
Al'vyon Estate, Residential District
The trip back to her home was not a pleasant one. The Residential District was still quite in shambles, evidences of the recent golem attack scattered about, and people have finally started going back to their normal lives. Unfortunately, she was not one of them. As a child (according to what she could remember) she had always loved the crowds, the brustle of people, the chaos that makes Abaddon: Abaddon. And yet, right now, walking through the densely populated street, she hated it with every fiber of her being.
She felt... uncomfortable. Maybe it was because every time she walked past a wounded person, she felt their pain. Every time she walked past a mourning citizen, she felt a sick tightening in her heart like a hot knife was being stabbed and twisted through it. And every time she walked past anyone at all, she could hear it. A faint thrumming in their chest, pumping, over and over, the sound of the heartbeats that she had experienced back in the clocktower, very faint, but it was enough to make her feel... strange. Like there was annoying mosquito buzzing in her ear. She half-ran past the crowd, wanting to cover her ears but not wanting to look suspicious. She bumped into a guy or two on her way, distracted by all these odd new things she was feeling. Some got mad and yelled, some simply accepted her apology quietly. By the time she had closed the door behind her, her throat was dry, her exhaustion coming in again.
Focus Xena. she told herself. You'll be alright. For now... let's find that god-forsaken piece of paper.
The Alv'yon Estate, despite supposedly being a house of a nobility, was rather simple in its design and structure. No extravagant tapestry adorned the walls, nor expensive paintings. In fact, the walls were bare, as Xena had no desire to spend money on such pointless stuff. Xena walked past the grand piano on the main hall and walked up the grand staircase, not even bothering to open any sources of light. She knew every step by heart, as she walked past her room and to her study. She walked over the window and opened it, letting the sunshine and the fresh air in, and for the first time that day she actually felt... good. The silence of her solitude was comforting. She lit up a lantern and walked over to her shelves and shelves of books and parchment. Her diaries (which she noted, strangely only started around the time she met Errol, despite the fact that it should have started the first time she learned how to read and write) was there as well. She opened countless documents, countless records of her patients, countless books on herbs, medicine, anatomy---
Anatomy. Xena quickly grabbed the heavy leatherbound book and slammed it down on the table. She remembered this book, the one whose author was unknown, the one whose details were so precise and useful that she was amazed the first time she read it. She never thought much of it before, but she now understood why. As she ran her fingers through it, skimming the pages, she felt her like she had a weight on her lungs. She could not breathe. The horror in that man's eyes... the tears on his face... as she stopped on a very familiar page, she could not help but close her eyes shut as she supported herself on a near wall, trying not to lose balance. She sat on the floor and curled up, hugging her knees, as she realized she could no longer stand.
She stared at the floor for one second. Two...
And then... she buried her face in her knees and cried.
