-||Truth Behind the Mask||-

[Rosalind Bloom]

Beth raised her eyebrow and shook her head. "Don't take that tone with me." She said sharply as well. She didn't appreciate people speaking to her in such a manner. "And you do realize that Haven knows that you're just hiding how exhausted you actually are? She just doesn't want you to worry about it so she's pretending to believe you. She's smarter than that." She pointed out then sighed. "Come on, find somewhere to lie down then." She said wrapping an arm around him for support. She was stronger now. It happened like that a lot where she'd be tired for a little bit then have bursts of energy.

Haven looked over to Alex and frowned. "Do you want me to try and heal it a bit so it hurts less?" She asked him, noting that one of the wounds seemed to be open again. Plus, he had whined showing he was in discomfort and that made her upset to see him in pain.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Ray didn't respond to her stern reply to his annoyance. He felt a pang though and seemed to act sheepish for a moment but it didn't show much. He let her help him though as they started towards a room where he could sleep. "I do it subconsciously sometimes," he said as he felt his limbs growing weaker. "I don't want to be a burden..." The exhaustion was making him talk without realizing it now. "Mother said I was burden..."

Alex nodded his head as he moved slightly so that he was closer to her. Blood was oozing out of the wound and beginning to mess up his hair again. What he really needed was a hot towel or something to wash off the blood.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Beth raised an eyebrow and asked, "Now what kind of mother would say that to her own child? That's just awful!" She shook her head and tsked. "You're in no away a burden, you just saved my daughter." She said smiling. "And for that, I really do thank you for."

Haven frowned a bit. She knew that she needed something to clean it up with but she didn't have anything so she settled for the fabric of her dress. She ripped part of it off then pressed down gently to make the bleeding stop enough for her to clean it up a bit. She then put her hands over it gently and could feel the same warmth coming off her hands.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Ray didn't believe her, there was always consequences to go along with your actions, sometimes they were good and sometimes they were bad. He scowled slightly as he put up his facade again. It was difficult to crack his shell but he preferred it to be that way. "Well I need to sleep," he said sharply before sitting down on the bed in the room that they had entered. He laid down after a moment an ignored Beth.

This time Alex could feel pain from the healing. It confused him but he didn't make a sound. It was the internal wound that hurt now but the surface was healed. He could tell by and he knew the wound wouldn't open again. There would be a scar but stopping the bleeding and shutting the wound was the important part. He knew that he didn't trust her as much now, he felt like she would leave him. "That's good," he said after a moment. "I want to sleep."  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Beth let a sigh, deciding to just let him be that way. She stepped outside hte door and then made her way to a different room.

Haven immediately collapsed backwards but only because that took a lot of out of. "I'm happy it's better." She said smiling, the exhaustion apparent on her face. Her own side was hurting again but she was keeping quiet about it once more. She nodded once at his words then smiled at him again. "Then sleep." She said softly. She was worried that something was wrong with him, though. She didn't understand why he had run off. That was still bugging her.

She would let him tell her, though, if it was something he wanted her to know. She really did love him and it was extremely obvious. She was desperately in love with him and that might cause her some problems. She wondered if he knew that Richard wanted her to be his wife.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Alex relaxed so that he wouldn't feel his limbs. He let himself stop thinking about everything and he closed his eyes. It didn't take him long to fall asleep after that.

Ray had fallen asleep before Beth had even left. He had been more exhausted than he wanted to be and hadn't expected it. When he woke up the next morning he was more energized than before and wasn't sure whether he was in a good mood or a bad mood.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven had snuck out of the room early that morning. She had gotten enough sleep which had caused her to wake up too early... Well, it wasn't early for her... Beth had found another room to sleep in and was currently there while Haven was pacing in one of the halls. Her grandmother had been kind enough to grace her dreams with images of her being together with Richard as well as other things. But nothing bothered her as much as the thoughts with richard did.

She wondered how her mother was and if she or Ray had gotten any sleep. She knew Alex had which made her more than happy. She couldn't stop worrying. But, a good point of the day was that she was finally back to her usual strength. Maybe just a little bit less than normal but still enough to not get tired if she needed to use simple healing abilities.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Alex had slept soundly but once Haven left he woke up. It was being with her that made it easy for him to sleep. He got up after a moment and stretched. The pain in his shoulder was reduced to a dull and he knew it would be bruised for a while. After waking himself up some more he went out to look for Haven.

Ray slept fitfully, occasionally have a nightmare about his horse or his family. When he woke in the morning he was still tired, but it wasn't like before. It was a tired where it's more psychological. You feel tired because there is so much to think about but you can't fall asleep because you're body is not tired. He sat up in the bed and reacquainted himself with where he was. When he got his bearings he went out into the hall to look for the kitchen and eventually some food.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven was quietly talking to herself which was something she did quite often when she needed to figure things out. She was very confused and not to mention disturbed about the dreams she had the previous night. She was only a little bit down the hallway from Alex's room.

"Deep breaths, Haven... Dreams are just dreams... Not reality... Even though some of your dreams come true doesn't mean this is going to be reality... Deep breaths, block your mind..." And so on, so forth...  

[- symphonic disaster -]

When Alex saw her at first his ears perked up. He lowered his head after a brief moment and his ears slicked back with an expression of shame. He didn't know why she was pacing, maybe he'd done something horrible last night or maybe she wasn't sure about what she would think about these things.

Ray got up now, he was anxious about what might happen now. He wanted to get moving if only he could get away from this stupid castle. He knew that he would be able to get Haven to talk to him more outside the castle.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Beth walked out of her room now and saw Haven. "Aw, no. Dear, this is not the time for another mental breakdown..." She muttered and Haven blinked. "Huh? Oh... I'm not having a mental breakdown..." She said and Beth raised an eyebrow. "You're pacing and talking to yourself... That's what you did when your father died... What's wrong?" She asked and Haven sighed.

"I had a bad dream last night. He... Richard and I... We... and... I don't know if it's just a dream or not... It is, right? But you know that I've dreamt some things and they turned out to be true..." She said and Beth nodded. "Honey, I'm sure it's just the nerves..." Neither had realized that Alex had come out yet. "So... You're in love with Alex! My little girl's go- Oh... Don't give me that look now!" Beth said as Haven narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I do... But I don't want you making a big fuss about it! It's not that big of a deal..." With a sigh, Beth nodded then said, "I'm going to go and try to find something to eat..." With that, she left and Haven turned around then walked forward, stopped and smiled.

"Alex! Are you better today?" She asked as she saw him.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Alex had let out a soft whine when he heard the last thing Haven had said. It confused him, either she was talking about the dream not being a big deal, or loving him. It disturbed him but when she asked the question he hid it. He walked over to her and sat down so she could see the wound. There was a jagged scar where he'd been injured but it looked better than the night before. There was no more pain and it was evident in the way he walked.

Ray had found the kitchen and was rummaging through the food. The maids hadn't been very active lately because of the absence of the master of the house. In addition to that there had been some complications involving who to cook food for and what to cook.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven smiled as she saw that it was much better. She sat down against the wall now and then let out a small sigh. She was still stressing over the dreams. "What do you think the possibilty of a dream coming true is...?" She asked softly even though she really didn't care if she got an answer.

Beth found the kitchen as well and saw Ray but didn't say anything. She was still fuming about the night before but then remembered something. "Can her grandmother get into her dreams?" She asked curiously. "Haven said she dreamt that she had married Richard." She finished.  

[- symphonic disaster -]

Alex didn't make a sound but rested his head on her shoulder. His snout was touching her neck and he tilted it slightly so that he could look at her while resting his head on her shoulder. He studied her expression carefully, trying to take in the details.

"It's possible," Ray said in a quiet voice. "I've done it accidentally before but I usually forget what had happened in the dream. As for controlling it though, I have no idea." He was still rummaging through the kitchen, getting frustrated with what he was finding.  

[Rosalind Bloom]

Haven wrapped her arms around him and sighed a little bit. No need worrying him, she didn't want to cause him any trouble. She smiled a little and said, "I shall be very happy when this is all over." She smiled even more as she thought about that. "Then we'll finally have some peace..." She said softly.

Beth nodded slowly and then said, "She told me she had a dream that she was married to Richard." She would hope he understood right away what she was getting at and just in case he didn't she said, "She is confused because she doesn't know if it's just a dream her grandmother is controling or... Her abilities kicking in..."