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Post by Kitten King on Dec 19, 2010 6:01:26 GMT -5
Lilith had a secret. It wasn't a "dark" or "dangerous" secret, not at all. It was just… different. Something that she'd always been told was stupid, or at least for the past 10 years of her life.
For you see, she had an imaginary friend.
Or so thought, really. She wasn't aware of anything else it could be. She just knew he only came out when she was alone. It didn't matter when, or where, just that she was alone. Lonely, especially. So as she sat in her room, skipping out on her Math class for the third time this week and leaned against the side of her bed, out he came. He just seemed to pull off from a shadowy place, and his blacker-than-black form approached.
Her friend wasn't a little thing, either. He was massive, with hulking shoulders and great claws, but his eyes were round and full of bright emotion, even if they did only appear to be holes in a shadow.
Grrrrooo? came the crooning sound from him, that she was certain only she would ever be able to hear. He hadn't made any sound at first - he hadn't been much of anything at first. He started out as nothing but a shape in the wall, like the projection of a shadow-puppet through a screen. Slowly, ever so slowly, he'd slowly started to take more and more shape. He pulled away from the wall and waltzed around her room, he started looking fuller, less flat… and then one day, his silent footsteps had some weight to them. Days passed, and his footsteps got heavier, his body bulkier. She could feel him when he touched her now, a mysterious sort of touch that she could find nowhere else. Then one day he'd crooned, just like that, and he was sealed forever in her heart.
"Hey Troggle." It wasn't the most inspired name, but they had met when she was SIX, and it wasn't like he could talk to tell her any other name he might have. "Whatcha been up to?"
Crr-rrr-rrooo, ga-roup, he replied firmly, sitting back on his proportionally stumpy back legs. He just blinked his round, white eyes, watching her, and she went on as usual.
"Yeah, crazy t' be in a new place, eh? You haven't come out since the first day… izzit cause Dragon's here so much?"
Crrooooo.
"Man, 'm sorry. She's my roommate now, I can't do nothin' about that."
Croo!
"I know it's a bother for you, but d'you have any idea the HELL I would catch if someone else found out about you? You always wanted to stay hiddin' before, why the change NOW of all times?"
Garrrr… Troggle folded down into a sullen pile on the floor, eyes narrower and grumpy. Once he'd started talking, there had been no shutting him up over the past 9 years. She reached forward and played with his ears (if that's what the strong things sticking up from his head really were) and watched them dance away from her like pitch-black flames.
"I know that's not what you meant. You never did like other people.…well, time for me to go - and before y'ask, NO, you can't come! Jeez." She got up, leaving him there on the floor. He lifted his head as she rose, and watched her walk across the room to the door, still grumbling noises to himself. She twisted open the door, and as the beam of light shone into the dim room and struck where her friend lay, he vanished. Like he'd never even been there - but of course, he really hadn't. It was all in her head, after all. No other explanation.
Her imagination was a little overactive sometimes, but after this long, she was used to it.
She needed to burn some energy, and badly. She needed to get outside, to run. She'd find her way there… she navigated her way through the halls of the castle, the twists and changes, and with each turn she found herself more and more unable to hold herself back. Eventually, she couldn't take it, and just broke into a run in the halls. She rammed past a couple of stupid, giggling prep girls, sped past the open door of a classroom that was out-of-session, and burned her way back up towards the top of the castle. She didn't even know where the hell she was going anymore - just that she was going.
However, just as she was really beginning to feel her blood pounding through her system, to really get the feel of energy burning through her, it all came to a halt. A painful, slamming halt, that involved tangled limbs and a spray of feathers - Lilith was screaming out curses before she hit the ground.
"OW- what the- OW, what the FUCK man?!" She shoved at whomever she'd run into, trying to get off of him. She shook her head, still somewhat swimming from the impact, and looked up. To her surprise, projected against the wall, watching with amused and narrowed eyes, was Troggle. He had that smug look to him, and Lilith wanted to SCREAM at him in combination of everything having happened. He didn't give her a chance to scream, however, or give the winged boy a chance to see him. He just turned, and lumbered his way soundlessly across the wall, and back into shadow.
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Ixtlilton
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Post by Ixtlilton on Dec 19, 2010 23:34:00 GMT -5
Jacob had thought maybe also trying to get Alex to come meditating at a more reasonable hour might have more success, but so far, no luck. He knew it would probably be a long time, and he certainly had no problem with meditating himself. It helped him clear his head, and, to be honest, it gave him some privacy in a world where everyone watched his every move. Not that they weren't watching then, too...
He'd made it almost up to the tower he'd picked for meditation, since Zeke wasn't with him. There was a storm coming in a few days, and he wanted to be able to go for a fly if it wasn't too bad. He wasn't good enough to fly without the increase in wind yet. A bit of meditation and wind manipulation would do him good.
He came to a T in the path, where another hallway met the one he was walking down. He would have just kept going. That was his intention. But he heard the pounding of feet... and turned to look, dreading what he would see, just in time to see a blur and feel a WAY too powerful collision into his chest.
"OOOOOOF!" he coughed out, actually flying backwards a bit before falling to the ground. His wings closed down in front of him protectively, an automatic reflex. Ow. ow. Ow. Ow. Ow. He felt like he'd broken a rib, god. Fuck. Ow. Ow. Ow. The pain was continuing. There was pressure on his chest, and flailing, like something was punching him. God above, was he actually being attacked? Had one of the students gone berserk again? Was he going to lose a lot of feathers out of this?
He wrapped his wings tighter, curling up into what was essentially a feather fetal position, hoping that whatever was assaulting him would leave him alone before it seriously broke one of his bones. "Nnngggh..."
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Post by Kitten King on Dec 21, 2010 6:34:01 GMT -5
"Oi, OI, get off me!" Well technically he couldn't 'get off' her, seeing as how she was on the top here, but she knew what she meant. She wanted him to let go and back the fuck away, because she was about to pop a blood vessel. There she was, running in the nice empty hallways, and all of the sudden he decided to get in her way. Did this guy have any idea how exasperatoring- wait, no that wasn't it- exasperforming? No... exas.. ex-oh, ANNOYING. Did he know just how annoying that was?! And TROGGLE, the traitor, just sitting there laughing it up. He was probably watching right now! Not that he could do anything to help her, but he could at least look a little sorry! Hell, he coulda WARNED her.
Stupid Troggle. She'd give him a good bop on the skull later. For now, however, there was a different matter to deal with - the fact that she was trapped between a guy's CHEST (she wanted to be hitting a lot more than she was already doing as she squirmed to get her arms up, she really did) and his fuckin' huge ass WINGS. She managed to yank her left arm up from where it had been trapped at her side. Oh yeah, she'd seen the guy in the halls before, with all them stupid giggly girls lookin' on. People might think she was stupid, but she wasn't THAT stupid. She freed her right arm then, and shoved at Jacob's shoulders, hard. She knew what she was dealin' with. Fuckin' popular kids. They were all the same, and she hated all of them. She forced him down best she could, if only to demand his attention.
"Let. Go." Lilith hissed the words out between her teeth, and her eyes glared down at him like midnight fire. She was not happy, oh no - she was the opposite of happy, and everyone knows that an opposite-of-happy Lilith is exactly the opposite of what you want.
Life was suckish to people like that sometimes, wasn't it?
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Ixtlilton
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Post by Ixtlilton on Dec 21, 2010 6:47:17 GMT -5
Jacob was having a very difficult time processing what was going on, possibly because he'd banged his head a little when he'd fallen onto the stone floor. He could hear yelling... a girl, it sounded like, and whomever had tackled him was still going at it. But something was wrong. How could she hit his chest when....
Ah.
He started to lean up a bit, loosening his wings in an attempt to get her off of him so she would hopefully either stop hitting him or stop hitting him in the same place over and over again. He was going to be black and blue tomorrow, that was for sure. He'd have fun explain this to his roommate...
However, just as he'd done that, the creature he had silently termed "psycho bitch" in his head decided to go in for the kill. She shoved his shoulders down and he richoched back, his skull slamming once again against the stone. This time, his wings went completely limp and fell off of the girl and to the sides. He wasn't paying attention, though... he was too busy bleeding all over the cobblestone.
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Post by Kitten King on Dec 21, 2010 7:12:08 GMT -5
When the wings went limp and feel away, Lilith was smug and satisfied - ha. Ha ha. That'd teach that damn jock to... beware of.. wait. She stopped in the process of getting up, still crouched over him, and stared. She was... she was pretty sure heads weren't supposed to do that. Red-hair aside, she knew blood when she saw it, and especially when she could smell it. Shit. Shit shit FUCK. Damnit. That wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't used to shoving people down onto floors like this! She was used to school-hall tile and hardwood floor, the occasional carpet if she had to resort to it. Stone, she was not experienced with. Stone she hadn't worked with.
She'd fucked up bad. She should've known it would happen, just like always. Should've known she'd get kicked out of this school, too.
"Heyheyhey, man, talk to me, talk to me... ooohhh fuck, fuckity fuck fuck, I-I'm sorry, I didn't know... fuck, nurse. Nurse NOW. Uhhhhhh...." She kinda knew where the medic was here, since she'd been there a couple times (already) but it was hazy, and the panic made it harder. She needed to figure it out though, and fast, and, and... she could not think at times like this. This was panic-time. She didn't do well with panic. "I don't know if you can walk, can you walk? I don't know if you can walk, fuck..." She'd been doing really good with her language, too, being around Dragon, and that was all out the window. Control was gone.
That opened the door.
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Ixtlilton
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Post by Ixtlilton on Dec 21, 2010 7:30:24 GMT -5
Ug, the world was spinning. Jacob wasn't fragile by any means, but his best friend of twelve years had super strength and a mouth full of fangs. He was used to injuries. His best friend was also prone to panicking, and essentially everyone he knew was prone to blowing something up when they panicked, so despite being intensely out of it, he had a pretty firm grasp on things.
"Urg," he groaned, then forced his mouth to sound out words. "I'm awake," he said, a little too slowly. He brought his hand to his head, and came back up with blood. "...Ah. Hold up... Can I have an article of clothing?" He started to apply some pressure himself, but it would be a bit tricky to get his jacket off around his wings while he was bleeding, so... "Uuuuh, ow... Deep breaths, okay..." he scanned her face for a second. "Lilith? Deep breaths, stay calm, everything's under control. Everything's fine."
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Post by Kitten King on Dec 21, 2010 7:54:11 GMT -5
How in the world Lilith was supposed to stay calm, she didn't know. She didn't have any CLUE about that one. She did, however, have an article of clothing she could spare. Thank god she'd picked up the habit of double-layering, considering that otherwise the way she stripped off her short-sleeve would be pr-et-ty bad. Her tank pulled up a bit, but she didn't really give a damn and just tugged it back down over her belly when she tossed her shirt to Jacob. She tried to follow his advice too - it was the same sort of thing Nic always told her. Thinking of Nic helped a little bit. Not a lot, but... a little.
"...I-I really am sorry," she managed to get out, still looking a little shocked herself. She'd always been told to be careful, shoving people around like that, and she'd always scoffed it off. She'd always done it anyway, and always, no one got seriously hurt. Sure a cut or a bruise here or there, but... not a cracked head. That was totally different, and she hadn't even meant to. Her stomach dropped a little bit, her mouth went dry. She really didn't want to think of it. "I didn't mean for that t' happen, y'know? I-I... y-yeah..." Nervous, agitated, emotional as she was, shapes paced around on the wall behind her, like candle-shadows flickering their way along in a dim room. It happened a lot in situations like this, but Lilith rarely noticed, and so small were the movements, so tricky, that rarely did anyone else. They passed it off as a trick of the light.
But this wasn't the outside world, and people had sharp eyes and sharper minds here. People sometimes knew more than you wanted them to.
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Ixtlilton
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Post by Ixtlilton on Dec 22, 2010 1:24:33 GMT -5
Oh, good, cloth. Jacob would have to buy her a new shirt later or something, cause this one was gonna be wrecked. He tied it tight around his head, and he probably looked ridiculous, but that wasn't really a worry for him right then.
"Of course you didn't," he said, his voice gentle. "Don't worry. Head injuries always bleed like crazy; it looks much worse than it actually is. I'll probably have a bruise, but I promise, you did not actually crack my head open. I'll be fine."
The girl... Lilith Andraste, Nic's sisterand apparent violent lunatic with mood swings, was saying something, but Jacob's eyes focused on the shadow's behind her. She was roomed with that new Dragon girl, the one who turned into shadow. Had Mr. Abelev done it because...? Well, those shadows wouldn't be moving for any other reason. With just a slight wing twitch, he produced enough of a breeze to grab, spin around to gain momentum, and dart over to the torches that lit this way-out-of-the-way corridor. They flared up quickly, squashing the dancing shadows. But now Jacob had a new problem to focus on.
"Do you know what your power is?" he asked. It probably sounded a little bit out-of-nowhere, but hey, the guy whose head you'd just smashed could ask whatever questions he wanted right? Especially if you still had yet to stand up off of his midriff.
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Post by Kitten King on Dec 22, 2010 6:59:11 GMT -5
His reassurance wasn't actually much reassurance - about the only one who could really reassure her was Nic, and Nic wasn't here right now, was he? She remained unsettled and unsure, but at least one thing was certain. She needed to get off this guy, especially before someone fuckin' SAW HER. She scrambled off him, trying not to tread on his wings and kinda, sorta, partly succeeding. She rubbed furiously at her forehead in an attempt to hide her face for a few moment while she recollected her thoughts, and it worked well enough in her opinion.
Of course, his question caught her off-guard again. She paused a moment, to puzzle it. Why would he ask her that? That was… really random. REALLY random. She glanced around, trying to figure out what could have triggered that, but she couldn't see anything. Just them and the cold stone walls of the empty castle halls.
"Uhm, yeah. I do." She crossed an arm over her front, discomfort starting to slip away, though guilt still remained. A couple moments longer, and she might just have her confidence back as well - if Wing Boy didn't smash it with a hammer some how, of course. There was always that option. "I'm a, a whats-it-called, a… a shadow… shadow mover. I control it - er, that is. I'm supposed to. I can't yet." A flash of clarity, and a spark of her fire returned. "Don't think I can't hold my own though! I'll knock your head clean down again if I had t', easy as anythin', let me tell you." The confidence in her voice didn't show so much in her eyes, really, but her hand had her side came up and met with the other one to cross over her chest, finishing her defiant look. It wasn't complete without the fire in her eyes, but.. it was enough.
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Ixtlilton
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he knows where all the naughty boys and girls live
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Post by Ixtlilton on Dec 22, 2010 7:41:15 GMT -5
"I have absolutely no doubt that you would do that," he said as he tightened the shirt around his head. He would have to get to the doctor eventually, or Zeke would be mad enough to finish the job next time they saw each other. He also had no doubt that his head hurt enough for him to use it as an excuse for sending her flying across the room if she tried. He didn't care about people enough to let his skull get busted open, anyway.
"I manipulate air," he informed her. "Thankfully, I'm not just a set of useless wings." He shifted slightly to lean up against the wall behind him. "So I have experience with how difficult it is to control the ability to manipulate the intangible. I'm not actually a professor here yet, but if you'd like, you're welcome to join me in exercises that have helped me in the past." He decided to let out one of his award winning angelic smiles. She didn't seem like the type to be effected by cute boys, but he had yet to find a person who could really suspect his motive when he let loose with one of his super-charming-good-boy smiles. "When I was a kid, I used to blow all of the things in my room to one side while I slept. Everyone has problems controlling their powers."
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Post by Kitten King on Dec 22, 2010 8:06:09 GMT -5
So, air manipulation, huh? (Manipulation, THAT was the word! She'd have to try and remember that one, but it was just so long…) That was interesting… she'd met another manipulator since she'd gotten here to Ansembourg, and she'd been told that she could expect to meet many more, but most of them dealt with something that was much more physical than shadow. This was a little different, though. While air was a form in and of itself, it was still less tangible than water or earth, or even fire. It was a little closer to her power than others she'd met, and she couldn't help but start to feel a small amount of kinship in that moment.
Moments of course, don't last forever. That was when Jacob entered the area of Lilith's Out-of-Bounds. Was he.. really suggesting that? That she… that she had a problem? That she needed help? Oh no. Oh, fuck no! Her guilt was gone in a flare, and there she was, in all her Lilith glory, as riled as she'd ever be. Jacob had just been granted the misfortune of hitting her sore spot when she was already wounded.
"…problems? Problems?" Her voice started out quiet, and low, and disbelieving - it did not stay there long. "You sayin' I got PROBLEMS? Well you LOOK 'ERE, Wings! Do you even know you're talkin' to? Do you even KNOW who you are TALKIN' TO? I ain't got NO problems other than one with YOU right now. I'm Lilith fuckin' Andraste, and I don't need NOBODY'S help!" Already on her feet, she paced back and forth for a few seconds, looking extremely agitated. "Fuck, I would take back my shirt if it wasn't for me not wantin' to get your idiot blood on myself." She had a good mind to go back to her statement that she could sock him right down again, except for the fact that such a thing really would get her kicked out. She didn't want to let anyone else - or more importantly, herself, down like that again. She'd promised she wouldn't.
But she sure still wished that she could just leave the feathered douchebag there.
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Ixtlilton
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Post by Ixtlilton on Dec 22, 2010 8:21:14 GMT -5
Jacob's eyes were a bit tired for reasons other than his bleeding cranium. If he had a nickle for every time an off balance super powered teenager exploded at him, he'd be rich, and he hadn't even started TEACHING yet.
"Right, of course, how silly of me. You don't have any difficulties with your powers. Or anything else. That's why I'm sitting in a puddle of my own blood and you're roomed with the only person in the school you can't hurt if you lose control of your powers. And by if, I mean when if you seriously intend to take absolutely no lessons or assistance from anyone. Do you think I got to where I am by flailing around on the rooftops by myself until it worked? I could have killed someone, or myself! Your roommate, Dragon, do you think she just woke up one morning with all of her abilities completely under control. She had to and will have to work with other people in order to get in control and stay in control, and unlike you, she doesn't have the potential to blow up and kill someone. Or were you aware of what your doing to the shadows right now? Were you doing it on purpose? You can say you don't need help when you can say honestly there's no way you could accidentally kill someone, like, for instance, Nic, whom you spend so much time with."
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Post by Kitten King on Dec 22, 2010 8:46:43 GMT -5
She didn't want to believe him when he started talking. She didn't want to hear the words he was saying, or the meanings behind any of them. She didn't want to hear it. She couldn't bear to hear it. She never meant to hurt anyone, she wasn't cruel. She was aggressive, and pushy, but she wasn't heartless. She was just tough, and she knew that other people had to learn. She never meant to hurt them like she did. She would never kill anyone. Ever.
"Shut up," she said quietly after a moment, barely audible beneath his verbal rampage. It wasn't true. He kept going. "Shut up." She said it a little louder this time, grinding her teeth together, clenching her fists. It wasn't true, and he needed to stop, now. He kept going. "Shut. UP!" Her brother was the final straw, and she screamed the last word, stomping her foot against the ground. Behind her, the shadows raged, and then all hell broke loose. With Lilith so angry, so passionate, so fueled by the force of her own senseless denial, the door opened, and the chain broke.
Hiding was no longer an option.
With a screech that could have come from hell itself, the gigantic pitch form of Troggle snapped from the shadow wall, thundering into life. He launched himself forward Jacob, otherworldly fangs outlined sharp against the light of day, and he was on the boy before he could possibly have a chance to react. His form seemed to pulse and change and pulse again with every rumble of his growl, and his great paw came down on Jacob's chest, pining him ferociously against the wall. Troggle leaned in, his white eyes glowing, and let his growl rumble through every corner of Jacob's body. His master, shocked and disbelieving of her own eyes, could not control him. She had only the power to stare, watching as her childhood creation beared down on him. As for Troggle himself, he had only three things to connivery.
He was angry, he was unbridled, and he was very, very real.
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Ixtlilton
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he knows where all the naughty boys and girls live
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Post by Ixtlilton on Dec 23, 2010 2:52:24 GMT -5
Jacob had been expecting it. Only one thing happened when you pushed an already angry, anxious, frightened girl with no glimpse of control over her power to the breaking point.
Something broke.
In this case, it most likely looked like it was going to be him (again), but he had the advantage of actually being in control of his powers. One glance at Lilith's horrified and confused face let him know she wasn't actively trying to kill him. Which was good to know. He hated having to go to school with people who wanted him dead. It distracted him from his studies.
He whipped his wings around, creating enough of a stir to shoot himself sideways out of the beast's grasp, backwards down the hallway, skidding up to his feet. If he'd known he was going to be in a fight, he would have worn more appropriate shoes. How long had it been since the last freak out in which Dmitri hadn't been around?
He kept moving backwards, using his wings to generate enough air to speed his feet and pepper the monster with stinging, whiplight cuts. He had to figure out how solid it was, after all. He lured the monster backwards towards the stairwell, not caring to have a fight with a shadow monster in a closed building with lots of shadows and very little wind. Not when he was that close to the roof. His eyes glinted, with concentration or perhaps something else, as he watched the creature lumber forward. Fast, but not fast enough to catch him, by a long shot. He skidded back into the door, then blew it open off its hinges rather than stopping to open it and getting eaten.
He waited there, for a moment, as the creature followed, then with a giant flap of his wings and a push downwards, shot himself up.
It wasn't flying. Flying indicated a sort of not-coming-down. He was just jumping really far. He caught himself on the top of the staircase with and hand, near the peak of his jump, and scrambled up, blowing the door to the roof open as well. He didn't have time to look behind him, but we certain the monster would have no problem with the stairs, either.
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Post by Kitten King on Jan 2, 2011 5:28:46 GMT -5
Troggle was not happy to have this strange, winged creature find its way from his grasp. He hissed, a low, throbbing sound, and stomped after the boy. The winged one moved back as he approached, and when Troggle got closer, began to lash out with whipping blades made of air. They stung when they struck, and Troggle hissed again, rattling this time. The shadows around his spine rippled and blurred like an angered cat, and he let himself slip back. The blades annoyed him now, disrupted his shape - but something that was mere shadow could not feel the pain. He stalked after Jacob, following, until the boy shot up the stairs.
Now Troggle roared and bared his shadowy fangs again, stampeding his way through the staircase, leaping in great bounds upwards. No longer having weight to his body, he moved quicker and lighter than before. He could do no physical harm to Jacob in this form, but in order to do any harm, he first had to catch the boy. That was the trick, wasn't it?
Not everyone, of course, was as confident in their actions as the two warring sides. Trapped right in the middle, instigator of the whole mess, Lilith had no clue in hell what to do. The shock was overwhelming. Her... her Troggle. He'd just.. it wasn't possible. It wasn't. He wasn't real, he was just something she thought up as a kid and never let go of. She was immature and child-like, hadn't she been told that before? Yeah, she'd socked someone in the nose for it, too. There was truth she hadn't wanted to believe there, but now... now she wished that was the truth. Rather than this... thing. This thing she'd created, without even knowing it.
How could you create something like that without knowing it was yourself doing it?
She didn't know, didn't know... it didn't make any sense. She stood there, dumbstruck and still pressed back against the wall, for several more moments, before she realized that the others were gone. It was a sudden realization, as she snapped back to reality in a moment. Troggle, Troggle... Jacob. Fight. She was moving again before she could even think.
This was all her fault again, wasn't it? Goddamn...
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