ᴅᴏᴄᴛᴏʀ sᴛʀᴀɴɢᴇ (mysticism) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-08-09 12:34:00 |
|
|||
The garden at the Sanctum was flourishing nicely, and Stephen was certain that was due to Wanda’s influence - but he’d gotten it started for her in the courtyard, in a space that seemed to defy conventional laws physics because there should not have been room to grow anything and yet there was. There happened to be a green quilt of herbs, right atop a bed of flowers - it all bloomed with the right combo of sun and water, and with some TLC too. Something vaguely normal though not entirely related to magic - though since the Sanctum overall had a pulse that beat magic, maybe it was. A telltale scent of magic lingered even out here where Stephen went to the garden to collect some more herbs for teas he planned to brew - it was like that in Kamar-Taj too; the more powerful the spell, the more powerful the sorcerer, the stronger the scent that was left behind. It remained - it lingered on Stephen’s cloak too, which he wore outside as he hovered in the air with his ankles crossed. He was attuned to every corridor, connected with the Sanctum as its guardian - he could hear even the vague thumps in the library, heavy tomes, and Rosalind when she’d move those tomes from the cart to the shelf, dust and ancient paper and golden sunlight falling in thick bars across the floors. Out here his focus wavered but he attempted to keep it steady, since he’d been feeling uneasy lately - maybe meditation and herb collecting would help. He tried. He really did - he filled a basket with plenty of green things for cooking, heading back indoors, but that’s when it hit him. This wave of fatigue, energy suddenly sapped from his limbs - his muscles, his bone marrow, his skin. Stephen slumped, hands shaking as he gripped the back of a chair and the fridge rattled. Everything was starting to unravel and that pulse of the Sanctum sped before it began to slow, like a last shot of adrenaline before the crash - it happened so quickly. Luckily the sentient cloak managed to unfasten itself from his shoulders, floating off someplace to go and try to find help - though if this continued, it would be a piece of red patchwork scrap any second now. Weird shit was happening in Vallo, but when wasn’t weird shit happening there? Maybe if Kady paid attention to the network a little more she’d have seen a post or two about whatever had been happening in the forest possibly creeping into the city as well. She’d never been a fan of being glued to a device though and considering how many people were around that liked to play the role of hero, she wasn’t about to start checking it more regularly. There were plenty of others who could help out with shit when it hit the fan. Which seemed to happen every other week. She’d been getting ready to head to the store before going to her job at Dorian’s later that evening when the cloak fluttered into her view. It’s exaggerated movements beckoned her to follow and while she was halfway considering telling it to go bother someone else, Kady wasn’t sure she’d ever seen it not on Stephen before. Just her luck that she was the only other person inside the Sanctum. “I’m coming,” she muttered, shrugging her jacket on as she followed it through the hallway and down into the kitchen, spotting Stephen slumped against the chair. She looked over at the frantic cloak and sighed, not entirely sure what to do. “If this is a heart thing we really need to teach you to call 911.” Or whatever the number was in Vallo. “Haaaaa - “ was all Stephen got out, a dry laugh. But as much as he wished he could come up with some kind of quip, it fell flat - because he was falling too, limbs giving way. The oppressive feeling made mush of his bones - and while he was glad that Kady wasn’t experiencing this, he wondered if he was going to be able to push through it to properly celebrate. Whatever was happening in the forest was most certainly bleeding into the city, something fierce unchained from its shackles and consuming whatever it could get. There was a giant boulder pressing against his chest (maybe it was a heart attack?). “It’s all coming apart. The demon - “ As soon as he said that, the fridge rattled again - but the demon was no longer inside the coils, it was everywhere. It broke free from its bindings, which had weakened, the Sanctum’s wards weakened too or disintegrated completely he wasn’t sure - but its presence stretched through the room, possessing the light fixtures, the cabinets, the walls. Stephen could practically feel its smugness at being free. “You’re going to have to put it back in.” No, it seemed to say - and threw a bunch of knives and silverware, which clattered angrily to the floor in a tornado. This was so very above her paygrade. Not that she was being paid to live in the Sanctum, but she’d purposefully not stayed at the cottage because shit like this just seemed to always happen there. Apparently shit like this just happened all over Vallo too, the Sanctum included. Too bad she’d started to care about the people who lived in the damn building too, so walking away from the current mess wasn’t an option. Maybe she really should start paying closer attention to the network. Kady let the cloak deal with Strange, hopeful that it would be able to catch him before he landed against the floor. Her focus was on the annoying demon. It was bad enough when it would try and keep the chocolate fudge ice cream from her late at night, but this thing felt giddy--something she was pretty sure one didn’t want a demon to be feeling. Thankfully her magic was still intact--for now at least, who knew how long that would remain so--and she utilized a form of her telekinesis to grab hold of the demon and yank the fridge back open before force pushing the creature back inside of the fridge. Considering magic seemed to be leaking out or disintegrating completely she chose a spell that melted the fridge shut, making it impossible for it to open back up. They could deal with that mess later. “Next time just give me my damn ice cream,” Kady snapped at the fridge before turning back to see how Stephen was fairing. The demon’s freedom was short-lived. There was this unholy screeching sound - and, honestly, Stephen had never heard it or the fridge make that noise before. The entire appliance shook like a strong oak tree caught up in a nearby blast, and those vibrations extended to the rest of the furniture and the walls again, even the floor (please don’t split open - a portal to wherever was the closest stop to Hell here in Vallo really would not be ideal) before, all of a sudden... Silence. Finally. The fridge was sealed shut but it went dark and still, and clearly it was an act of defiance because the food inside would spoil. There were alphabet magnets on the front, a tool the residents could use to communicate and they arranged themselves in a message for Kady. FUCK. Rude, but to the point - got it. The cloak had managed to catch Stephen, using the last vestiges of its power - but now it was a lifeless scrap, on the floor such as he was. His lashes fluttered and he swallowed hard - everything was going dark and god, this was dramatic. Vallo, you were really pissing him off this time. If he actually felt like he could stand he would be sending off some angry Eldritch blasts at...whatever. “Can you get Peter here?” he asked with a low groan. He chose Peter because he likely wasn’t affected by all this nonsense, given that his powers weren’t based in magic but genetics instead. Kady held up a middle finger toward the fridge at the message before looking back at Stephen. Peter? Who the fuck was Peter? It took her a moment to go through the list of people she knew who sometimes frequented the Sanctum before finally recognizing the name. Right. Wanda’s brother. Sort of. That was a whole mess she didn’t want to think too hard about. She didn’t exactly have his number though and settled on a network message, hopeful that the guy wouldn’t take too long to see it and get his ass over to the Santcum. Whatever was happening she wasn’t feeling any ill effects just yet, which suited her just fine. She’d showed up without her powers when she first came to Vallo, fuck it trying to take them away again. But right, getting Stephen up off of the ground was probably step number one. Though that looked like it was going to take a little more effort than usual. “Can you use your hands at all or no?” Because there was something about his hands sans magic, wasn’t there? There wasn’t even a second in passing that Peter saw the message that his feet couldn’t take him from Genosha to the Sanctum. A small rush of wind, time, energy, and he was right behind Kady, moving around her to the other side of Stephen. He looped his arm under Stephen’s so that the sorcerer could put his weight against him. The mutant was as gentle and delicate as he could be. “What’s wrong?” Peter was visibly concerned, looking to see if there were any physical attributes he could distinguish other than Stephen’s crumpled form, the Sanctum in a bit of a shamble. He wondered internally if Wanda was alright, but he’d help Stephen first. “What happened?” He blinked between Strange and Kady, looking for answers. Kady had asked him a question - Stephen just barely registered that. His mouth fell open to answer (words, what were words) but then Peter was right there. Relieving, actually, that he could get here so fast and seemed to be okay. At least something was going right. “I - can’t,” he told Kady regretfully, leaning against Peter and trying not to slump even more but all of his limbs felt like they were boneless and just swinging there - he could barely flex any muscle at all, every last bit of energy and any reserves just burned out like the last of a cigarette. “I can’t use them.” He couldn’t form a fist, couldn’t flex his fingers - his hands simply shook, leaves without any anchor, impossible to grip anything. “There’s something in the forest, it’s reaching this way - absorbing magic,” he added to Peter. “Wanda’s okay though.” He knew she was worried about the twins (probably had gone out to check on them - Rosalind was out as well, hopefully safe with her friends), and Stephen was worried too - but it was also difficult to focus on much of anything at all. “Help me to my room? And Kady - if you can try to redo any wards for the Sanctum? I don’t know how long they’ll hold, but if you need instructions they’re in the library.” It was always something in the forest. As great as the pull of magic was out there, it also seemed to be where the root of all Vallo’s problems originated as well. She’d do her best with the wards and then she really needed to check on Julia. And maybe a few others. “I’ll get the wards back up,” she assured, before turning her attention over to Peter. “Can you get him to his room on your own so I can start on those?” Because it seemed like the sooner, the better for trying to block whatever was siphoning off magic. Even if anything new put up would probably also be absorbed by whatever was taking magic away. If they had the time and the option was up for negotiation—Peter would also agree the woods should just maybe..be taken out? Seeing as they were the breeding grounds for everything bad that happened. But he nodded to Kady, “I’ve got ‘em, you do the magic stuff.” He gave Stephen a small squeeze to his shoulder in thanks at the mention of Wanda, before getting a good grip on his wrist—since the hands were a sensitive topic here. With his other arm looped securely around Stephen so he could bare any weight, he cradled the back of Strange’s head before giving him a small warning. “Close your eyes real quick, you’ll be nice and cozy before you can say, what?” And Peter did wait for him to close his eyes before adjusting his speed for, already there and building a support system of pillows he could find to prop Stephen up. Not too fast for whiplash but he didn’t want his friend spending any more than a second being uncomfortable if he had to. Stephen shouldn’t have felt anything, really. A small rush of air, a quick change to equilibrium before he was nestled in a pillow throne atop his bed. Peter slowed down and mimicked a few things he remembered Hank doing when he had been reduced to butter only a month or so ago. “You hanging in there? Can you breathe alright?” It was stealing his magic but how much of his life force, er, energy or whatever? He still had a pulse which was the important part. “Thank you, Kady,” Stephen told her, more breath than voice - he appreciated everything she was doing to help him, to help the Sanctum. He cared about her too. “Check the second bookcase on the left, third shelf.” It was amazing he could even think coherently enough to inform her of where to find the right spells for the wards - he wasn’t sure if it would work or not but they had to try. There were a lot of things in here that needed protection - artifacts that should absolutely not just be out there in the light of day. Plus it would crush him to lose everything that was old, steeped in history, magical items he was tasked with guarding - that he’d sworn his life to. He’d try to hold on to a little bit of hope. He closed his eyes as Peter instructed though - wasn’t hard to do, since he felt like sandbags were attached to his lashes. A second later he was literally on his bed, sinking into the plush pillows and blankets. God, at this point, you’d need to scrape him off this surface. “I can breathe,” he assured, then coughed - so maybe it didn’t seem that way, but. “I’m tired,” he added then, mumbling. “I can’t - stay awake. If the wards fail, will you stay? These artifacts in the Chamber of Relics can’t leave the Sanctum.” It hadn't take long for Kady to find the right books for the spells. It took even less time for her to realize just how over her head she was with them. She had to try though, going through the words and movements a few times before she attempted each of them. They were roughly done, but intact. For now, at least. Who knew how long that would last. Kady could already feel her own magic starting to leech outward, though not to the degree that had happened to Stephen. It was more a trickle, but enough to alert her that they were most certainly fucked. The wards would probably start to deteriorate soon as well. "Is there anywhere else that the stuff can go?" Kady asked as she headed into the room. "Maybe someone out there isn't experiencing this crap?" It was doubtful but they should probably reach out and see if there were options. “Won’t leave ya, buddy. Or your magic collection.” The mutant kept close to Stephen, a hand on his shoulder to steady him, keep the contact, and hopefully keep him from passing out just one second longer so he could give Peter and Kady the direction they needed. Twisting his lips, he glanced back up to Kady, then to Stephen once more. “I can keep them from leaving the Sanctum. Nothing a little duct tape can’t keep in place? And I don’t mind running the laps.” That weren’t really laps for him. Just very tiny seconds in time he’d set to remind himself on his silver wristwatch. Watooomb, Peter just said duct tape. If Stephen had the energy, he would have laughed - because, honestly, the idea of using that stuff on something as sacred and old at the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, for example, nearly gave him heart palpitations. “Laps,” he agreed, eyes closing again. “And I don’t - if you can find someone who can take everything...” The connection was fraying though - it was a worn thread, all of it. What he maintained with the Sanctum, the mystical energy that thrummed through the walls, the entirety of the Chamber of Relics - he felt nothing. Sensed nothing. The void was startling to him - it felt like poison, something to swallow him whole. And swallowed every single artifact in the Chamber of Relics too - even the Cloak of Levitation, gone. Poof. They wouldn’t have to worry about saving anything. That was what did him in and his eyes were closed (this is fine, was his last conscious thought, as he became the equivalent of a meme sitting in the middle of a fire) - they didn’t open. They wouldn’t. Not until all of this was over. “Fuck.” It was all Kady could come up with because she might not have been as in tune with the Sanctum and everything in it like Stephen was, but she felt it all simply disappear, swallowed whole by whatever it was that was taking magic away. There was nothing left to try and save and it didn’t look like Stephen was going to be any help any time soon either. “I say we get him to the clinic.” It would have people there that could watch him because Kady didn’t think this was going to get better anytime soon. Or, the duct tape wouldn’t work. Peter was much more concerned with Stephen behind his lasefare attitude, frowning when the Dr. closed his eyes. He frowned, only double checking to make sure Stephen still had a pulse again. He nodded—to both Kady’s proclamation of “fuck” and that they should get him to the clinic. He’d feel better putting his friend in the hands of an actual medical professional. “Alright, I’ve got this side, you get his other arm.” |