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Ever since he could remember, the obelisks had been something so inescapably fascinating to Rune. The fact that this singular structure could keep the islands floating, keep Rune from falling, was only highlighted by the beauty of its construction.
The Vercane always tried to instill a sense of wariness in him. “Stay away from it.” “You’re not old enough yet.” But the idea of getting to see it, getting to be near such a concentrated source of magic that was built by the fricking sorcerers??? Like the sorcerers who had made the islands float and gave everyone wings? They simply had to at least see it in person.
Now, Rune will admit, sneaking into the obelisk room in the middle of the night by himself may not have been his smartest plan. But he just needed to see it and his family would never give him a concrete answer as to when he would be old enough, so taking matters into their own hands seemed like at least the more favorable option than just waiting forever.
The obelisk was more beautiful than any picture in any book could convey. The whole room was illuminated in shades of pink and purple radiating from the floating crystals spinning within the blackstone. He dimly registered luxtent markings along the sides but when he tried to look closer at what they read the symbols blurred and shifted.
No matter, the energy of the room drew him in and closer to the source of the magic. It was mesmerizing, intoxicating even.
Despite himself, despite the memory of his elders telling him to keep his distance, Rune felt his hand reaching out to touch the glass encasing the magic.
…
He knew what happened next, but nothing could stop the foolishness of their past self. No matter how much he tried to stop, draw his hand away from what was going to happen, the scene kept playing. His hand pressed against the cool glass of the obelisk and everything shattered.
There was a sudden sinking feeling followed by the sound of stone cracking as the obelisk and room surrounding it crumbled. Rune was suddenly overcome by the sharp pain in his arm and crushing pressure all around him.
He was trapped.
He is trapped.
He can’t get out and everything is crushing all around him and he can’t get out.
He can’t breathe he can’t call for help everything’s fallen everything is crumbled and gone and he is stuck.
Gods, everything is so tight and inescapable and the sky is gone. Feels like he is dying like the walls keep getting closer, the rubble pushing harder down pinning him down close close close no escape nolightnohelp.
“..ne. Rune! Wake up,” a voice cut through the compressing silence that filled his ears. That wasn’t right.
He is alone, trapped alone in the room as he always is, always will be.
The pressure around him lightened for a second and he bolted. The walls too close, too close, not enough light, he needed to see the sky.
Rune barely registered opening the door out of his workshop, stumbling up the stairs and out to the backyard. The pressure was still heavy around him, even as the walls left and the sky, well, clouds came into view.
He still couldn’t breathe. Still was there. Trapped in the same place. Trapped by his own stupid curiosity. “Rune..?” The same voice cut through again. He didn’t recognize it. It felt safe, but it certainly wasn’t his family. No one in the Vercane had a voice that matched this, melodic yet clearly laced with concern. “Are you okay? Well- that’s kinda a dumb question because clearly not, but what’s up? Can we go back inside? Getting soaking wet in the rain probably isn’t going to help much…”
“No!” Rune forced out, lungs screaming at the lack of oxygen but Rune can’t breathe . It wasn’t safe to breathe, not here. “No. Not-Not inside. Too close. Trapped.”
“Ok, got it. Not inside. How about we go around to the front so there’s at least a roof but still no walls?” the voice offered. It didn’t make sense, any building that would have had an overhang would have fallen when the obelisk shattered. Besides, Rune couldn’t even tell it was raining, not when he was stuck under a pile of rubble, trapped.
Still, he hummed, not believing that he could really be led anywhere but faintly registering the warm hand taking his right one (the one not trapped, not stuck, not gone ) and leading them around to this hypothetical front porch.
The warmth felt nice. It cut through the cold of the rubble that still encased him. How were they walking somewhere with all of the rubble still trapping them in?
“Okay, here,” the voice said, their journey coming to a stop and pressure lightening on his hand offering him the chance to release it. Rune ignored this and held tighter to the grounding source of heat.
It was nice to focus on the heat. Everything else was still so cold, still there in the same place, so close that he couldn’t breathe couldn’tbreathecouldn’tbreathe.
His lungs ached.
“Rune, you need to stop holding your breath.” The nice voice wouldn’t leave him alone. He was thankful to not be stuck in the silence of the obelisk room, but the voice also didn’t make sense. Rune can’t breathe because it’ll make the rubble come even closer.
“C-can’t breathe,” the inventor gasped out. “Not safe to. Too much movement. Not safe to move cuz I’m stuck and it makes things push harder and closer and too tight too small too close around.” It seemed like common sense to him but clearly the pretty voice didn’t understand.
“Oh…okay…” they responded. They sounded so… sad. Which made sense because if they were here then they were probably also stuck too. Another casualty of his mistakes. “Rune..? Can you tell me where you think you are right now?” the voice asked.
“The V-Vercane,” he answered quickly. He hadn’t ever left it so why would he be anywhere else? “The obelisk room. ‘M stuck. Can’t move can’t breathe and I think I- I killed everyone who could…help me…” he trailed off, tears rolling down his cheeks.
“Hey, Rune, you’re not there. You’re at your house in BrightStep. You live here with Ava and you’ve also been letting me stay here. You’re not back there, I promise. You are not stuck there, you haven’t been there for a while,” The voice- Atlas- Atlas was here…
But that didn’t make sense, Rune didn’t know Atlas when he was trapped. Was he still trapped?
Rune’s vision came into focus for the first time since he woke up. He wasn’t met with the sight of rubble pressed against him. He was met with a kingfisher holding his hand and staring intently at him, “I- uhm. I don’t- Atlas…” Rune’s voice broke as he registered that he wasn’t alone.
He had Atlas here. He didn’t even mind as he sank to the floor, legs giving up at the first sign of relief. He didn’t even notice his legs had been shaking .
“Hi,” a slight smile spread across the face in front of him as the kingfisher caught Rune as he fell, lowering them both to sitting on the ground, hands still held together. “You back with me?”
“I’m less far away...but I think my body and subconscious have not gotten the memo…” he trailed off, trying to focus on looking at Atlas and not fading back into the place he had been.
“Ok, that’s a start. How about this, could you name 5 things you can see right now?”
“I can see you.” They identified quickly. “I can see…the porch, the door to the house, the horse stable, and…a tree?”
“Great, now how about 4 things you can feel?” Atlas asked, continuing the grounding exercise as he learned it from one village or another at some point.
“I can feel your hand is warm, the clothes I’m wearing, the floor, and…am I wet?”
“Yeah…it’s kind of pouring rain and you were quite determined to stand outside in the middle of it. I figured the front porch at least had a roof so it’d be worth a try,” Atlas responded. “But yep those are a good four. Now, can you name 3 things you can hear?”
Rune focused for a second, trying to identify noises around him now that he was slightly more aware of where he was. “There’s…well, my own voice. But also my heartbeat…and I can hear the rain falling…”
Atlas smiled, “Awesome. Can you name two things you can smell?”
“There’s the rain once again, that’s making things smell wet. And also the product you used to do my hair. It smells like watermelon.” Rune was quicker this time, picking out the sensory input easily.
“Nice, then the last one is one thing you can taste.”
“Well, I think I can almost always taste carrots with how much carrot soup I partake in…”
“Yeah, fair enough,” Atlas chuckled. “How are you feeling now?”
“Honestly I feel a bit like I got hit by a bus. Like- mentally. And in whatever space my energy is stored in,” Rune sighed.
“That unfortunately does make a lot of sense, in light of recent panic attacks,” Atlas responded. “What would you like to do now? We could go back inside to get you out of the cold raininess of the night…or if that would be too much we could stay out here.”
“Out here would be better...It feels safer not being confined inside. Besides, you are warm and there’s a roof so that gets rid of both the cold and the raininess,” Rune reasoned, leaning closer into Atlas. The warmth radiating off of him was comforting, helping the tension left in Rune fade further.
Atlas shifted, letting Rune get comfortable leaning against her and wrapping their wings lightly around him, not blocking them from pushing away if needed, just encasing him in the warmth of her embrace. It was a relief as the inventor’s breath finally evened out and their muscles relaxed as he slipped into a much more restful sleep.
And if Atlas stayed up the whole night making sure nothing could disturb Rune’s much needed rest, that was between him and the night.