[PRP] All That Remains (Zac & Temperance)

[The Semblance of Unity]

She'd been deposited back in Ashdown without trouble. Exhausted, Temperance showered and slipped into bed, the crystal skull winking at her from her bedside table. Stretching out her fingers, she touched the skull, stroking it gently. "I'm... s-sorry," she whispered.

She'd skipped classes the next day.

And the next day, she texted Zac, asking him if he could come over. That she found something in that otherland and needed an opinion. It was a shoddy excuse for company, something that might make her feel better.

endejester

 

[endejester]

He responded in short order that he’d make time, and texted back an approximate time that he cold meet her after all his other duties were done.
He was fairly timely too, aside from having stopped for a handful of baked goods because it sounded from her text like she was not having a good time of it.

He knocked on arrival and called softly. “H-hello! It’s Zac, I brought comfort food!”

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance opened the door and ushered him in. Her studio was kind of messy and the only places to sit where her bed and the computer chair next to it. She waved vaguely to them before taking a seat on her half-made bed. The food was a nice thought, but she hadn't felt hungry these past couple of days.

"Zac, thanks for coming by. I-" She trailed off. The crystal skull winked on her bed and she picked it up, turning it over in her hands.

endejester

 

[endejester]

“…W-what is that?” Zac asked as he watched her trail off, distracted it seemed by the crystal skull. “It’s… pretty?” He offered, though he wasn’t sure that was the right thing to say.
“Are you alright? You sounded like you need to talk and…” he waved the box of baked goods.

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance shoved a hand through her hair. "I went to other Ashdown. I just.. couldn't sleep, not well... since, since the ball and..." It was disorganized thinking that caused her words to trip over themselves like overeager college students at a free barbeque.

"It's... a skull. It's my f-fault, really, and this I have to carry and no matter what I did, it was wrong and-" She looked up. "In another cycle they lived."

endejester

 

[endejester]

He didn’t know the specifics of what she had gone through, but he understood something like it. He’d failed at the ball, he should have been faster, she might have lived. She should have lived.

He moved closer and put a very light hand on her shoulder, ready to remove it should the need arise.


“Did you want to tell me about it?” he asked carefully. “I, I don’t think I understand, not quite. But if it would help, I want to try.”

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Slowly, she told him about bits and pieces of what had happened to Per, to her. She hoped Per wouldn't appear in her dreams. How this skull was Per's and she had to carry it around - it was a constant reminder of failure. As she spoke, something ghostly formed around the skull, then flickered out. Temperance didn't notice.

"Zac, there's... so.. so much blood on my h-hands. This is just the newest ad-dition. I don't know what to do."

endejester

 

[endejester]

Zac’s eyes widened because he did see something flicker around the skull.
But she needed him. He leaned forward and hugged her. “Shhh… Hey.” He said quietly.

“Hey, I – I know you’re a good person. I know you tried. That is important okay? I know it probably doesn’t feel that way right now, but you tried. “I… I know you have a little.. ghostly skull now but I think they would rather it be with you than… in Dee, whatever he ultimately is.”

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"It doesn't matter if I tried," she said fiercely. "How many more are going to d-die because I can't be competent enough? I'm just a stupid nursing student that no one even wants to take!" She'd tried magic and found nothing in her that could do it - and maybe that was because she hadn't tried the right way. But she'd seen how the nobles were and no one wanted her for that. She ran up against walls, smacking into the same ones again and again.

Being a good person meant nothing if she couldn't save anyone. "What remains. You must look after it," she said dully. Temperance remembered that sickening crunch. Dee had been wrong in some things, but so, so right in others. "It's meant as a reminder."

endejester

 

[endejester]

“You have saved lives though.” He said quietly. Now was no time to distinguish the kind of live that she’d helped save. That it had been saved was key here and now.
“I- is it your fault that there are children in Africa who are starving? Because this, this Dee sounds like trying to fight it is like trying to, trying to win a punching match against an avalanche.

“This, this town, the choices people are making in it, maybe because of it. That’s scary… it’d be scarier if you never tried. It would be scarier if – if you weren’t you.”

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

She looked at him tiredly, blankly. "It's not enough."

endejester

 

[endejester]

His shoulders sagged and he sighed softly. “I – I don’t know what would be. You can’t be the only nurse who’s ever lost someone, but you’re only One that I trust to – to take care of me if something happened. You and Autumn were… were kind of amazing.”

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

"Of course I know I'm not the only nurse who's- s**t, I'm not even a real nurse!" It came out harsher than she intended; she knew she wasn't special because people had bled out in her hands. But... if she were someone else, if she knew more, if she wasn't only a nursing student, maybe they would have all lived. Temperance had failed each and every one of them. If she closed her eyes, she could smell the blood, feel it sticky and slick on her fingers, soaking into her clothing, hear the crunch of small bones.

She sighed, and it was a shaky sound. "I... I'm sorry. You don't deserve this... I..." Temperance was lashing out and she knew it. "Maybe you should go," she finished, in a very small voice.

endejester

 

[endejester]

“You may not be official yet, but I know you’ll be a great one.” He whispered. “And I’m not leaving you like this, not unless you want me to go. You’re my friend, and I trust you, but I worry too.” He rubbed a hand in circles against her shoulders.

“…I hate to ask, I really do, but, what is that shadow that um, curls around the skull sometimes. Should I be concerned for you?”

The Semblance of Unity

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance sighed and started to pull away, but his words stopped her. "Shadow? W-what do you mean?" She looked at the skull next to them. As of right now, it was simply a skull.

endejester

she just hasn't seen it do the shadow thing yet lol