House of Memories [Closed]

Liseran had been trying to focus on reading when she heard someone behind her. It was Valen. She frowned and tried to ignore him, but then he started apologizing.

"That wasn't what I was mad about," she grumbled. "Well not entirely!"

He continued to speak until he said something that made all of Liseran's reflexes trigger at the same time. She froze, her face flashing bright red as she stood there confused. She barely had time to demand an explanation when Valen touched her face and made her face him and--

For a second time, Liseran could feel tears rushing up to the edges of her eyes, but she quickly stopped them. Liseran really wished she had a charge because she would've bound Fable right then and there. Cheeks burning, she moved over to Remi. She sat on the edge of the bed as she watched Remi sleeping peacefully. She gently touched her arm.

"I'm sorry I kept leaving you behind," she murmured, almost inaudibly.

Remi nuzzled against Liseran's body and smiled in her sleep.

Meanwhile, Valen would notice the captive start stirring. The woman let out a pained groan and started opening her eyes.

Valen was preoccupied with something when he saw movement in the corner of his vision. He glanced over at the captive girl, pocketing whatever he was fidgeting with and got up. He walked towards the girl slowly, eyeing her cautiously.

"Are you awake?" Valen asked. "Do you recall what happened up to this point?"

The girl stared blankly at Valen. She then examined the room and where Liseran was. She stared back.

"Please kill me..." she croaked. "I don't want to live with anymore. I'm nothing without my Cantus."

Liseran seemed to have overheard this because she Remi's side and move over.

"You'll live without your Cantus," Liseran said sharply. "It'll be hard at first, but you will grow accustomed to it. What id important right now that you recover."

The woman looked at Liseran before staring back at the wall.

"I have no will to recover," she murmured.

Her eyes closed.

Liseran breathed out slowly.

"There's no forcing things out of her while she's this way," she told Valen. "You should focus on resting. I can keep the first watch."

"You're the one who should get some rest," Valen stated, closing his eyes and and walking off. "I'm the only one here able to use magic right now anyway. I'll keep watch."

He sat back down on the chair and rummaged inside his vest before pulling pulling something out and tinkering with it, his back turned to Liseran.

Liseran opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself midway. She looked at her charges sitting by the moonlight and sighed.

She honestly wasn't sure if she could sleep. She moved over to the bed and tried to lie down for a moment. But the more she could hear Valen's tinkering, the more restless she got. Her cheeks turned red.

She realized it felt really awkward being asleep while someone else was still awake. Especially a...


Liseran shot up and hugged her pillow, turning away. After a moment, she glanced back at Valen and leaned forward on the bed.

"What are you working on?" she asked.

"Nothing," Valen said simply without turning away from his work. If Liseran would look, she'd see he was fumbling with the broken pocket watch he was using as a prop for his earlier ruse. He was squinting at the tiny mechanisms hard as he tried to place the little gears in their place. On closer inspection, the watch wasn't a particularly nice one. The clockface was poorly painted and you can spot where the silver paint was chipping. Still, he seemed very intent on trying to piece it together.

Liseran examined Valen focusing on the timepiece. His concentration and precision in handiwork made her think it must have been something precious to him. She frowned, remembering that he probably wouldn't have broken it if she hadn't been so reckless earlier.

Liseran inched a little closer, now sitting at the edge of the bed and hugging her pillow.

"Would...would it be okay if I give it a try?" she asked, her voice oddly meek.

If Valen looked at her, he'd notice her eyes averting to the side.

"Mm...I learned basic repair reversals at the academy," she said. "Besides, it must not be good for the eye...working hard on precisionwork in poor lighting, and all that."

The pillow raised higher to Liseran's face, covering her mouth.

"If you're fine with it, of course..."

Valen stopped his tinkering for just a moment when Liseran spoke up. He glanced over his shoulder at her, staring at her with half-lidded eyes. He looked down at the busted trinket in his hands and got up. With careful steps, he went over and and sat on the bed next to Liseran. Without saying a word, he lifted his hand cradling the pocketwatch up towards her, his eyes just staring down at the ground.

Once Valen approached, Liseran lowered her pillow and reached for her ear. She undid the clasp of one of her stud earrings. It was white but shone a multitude of colors as it flickered in the fire light.

"This should be enough energy to do the repairs," she said quietly.

She inched closer to Valen, placing the earring on her lap. She then gingerly took Valen's hands in her own, just barely touching them. She then closed her eyes.

She began summoning marks. Marks for time, marks for rewind, marks for restoration...

Valen would see a small glyph appear in his hands, crearing a diagram where marks were at each point in the circle. He'd feel a familiar buzz of warm energy that Cartic marks had.

Valen would notice the hand of the clock trying to reverse as the broken pieces floated back into place, glass shards next to shards, gears twisting back into nooks and crannies...it was as if he was watching how his watch had shattered in rewind.

The clock's hands would start to move, turning back the hours that had passed. The watch then closed and locked shut. The glyph vanished.

Liseran opened her eyes. She softly smiled at the watch.

"All done!" she said. She'd let go of Valen's hands and press the clasp. It opened showing the clock hands moving in perfect condition. She looked at Valen brightly.

"You just need to synchronize the time," she said. "Also your hands are two hours younger than the rest of your body but that should be fine, right?"

She chuckled sheepishly, which was pretty different from her usual aloof facade.

"Heheh..."

Valen stared at the fixed timepiece before clasping it shut and pocketing it.

"Thanks," he said simply. ".... I'm sorry for trying to leave you behind."

Valen averted his eyes off to the side and sighed.

"You're skilled. I knew that," he stated, "But I didn't want to put you in danger."