Runelords 15.2 - Blackouts

Aldern sat limply in one of the armchairs in his bedroom, staring vapidly into space. He had barely five minutes alone before a knock tapped on his door: the light rap that he knew well by now to be Luna’s. “Come in,” he said flatly. The woman moved silently into the room, closing the door behind her. Her posture and expression screamed downcast submission as she moved to kneel in front of Aldern. She placed the tools she used for manicuring his claws beside her, and gestured wordlessly for his hand, her intentions clear. He blinked at her once, slowly, before placing his hand in hers. Without a word, she began to clip off the six-inch claws that had regrown from the negative energy infusion Luna had given him earlier, to heal the wound in his chest torn by the lamia’s speartip. When she finished with the clippers, she took up a file, rounding and smoothing the remaining nails. As she began, he requested tightly, “Tell me what happened.”
She remained expressionless, “What do you remember?”
“...I remember that we climbed the tower. I remember a woman’s voice, the lamia, I suppose, saying things. I remember…” he trailed off to silence, before he finished, “I remember afterwards, when you and Eamon were collecting the papers and chests, and what happened after that. That’s all.”
“And you don’t remember anything in between,” she said, halfway between a question and a statement, her hands continuing their task without missing a beat. He shook his head, so she continued, her voice lacking emotion, “The lamia baited you, threatening to reveal…” she chose her words carefully, “a secret of yours. The thought of having your secret told aloud...sent you into a fit. You lashed out at everyone but me, saying that the living couldn’t know. And we learned that you can control undead, because when you told me to kill and eat the living, that’s what I did. Or tried to do. Neither of us was very effectual.”
Aldern’s eyes widened as she spoke, and he barely whispered, “What…?”
“Control Undead. Or is it Command Undead? Either way,” she said, “it’s a spell that you can apparently just...use. If you give orders, I’ll follow them.”
The expression on Aldern’s face was a poignant mix of remorse and shame, and his voice was heavy with pain as he said, “Oh…oh, Luna…” His gaze dropped to the floor, and he pulled his hand away from her as he clenched his elbows tightly, folding in on himself, “I’m so...so sorry…” 
With nothing to do, she placed the file on the ground, neatly parallel with her other tools, and folded her hands. “It’s alright. Nothing came of it. I killed the lamia; I knocked it off of the roof and it fell to its death. Or its desummons, more like. Then I shot at Romeo, but I’m not terribly accurate, so I missed. Then I shot Khyrralien.” She paused for a second before adding, “But I don’t feel terribly sorry about that.” She spoke flatly, her affect matter-of-fact, “You bit at Eamon and Khyrralien, since they were the most convenient. You weren’t particularly smart about it though; you broke a potion rather than drink it, and tried to use claws you didn’t have, so you were obviously more upset than intentional.”
“I’m so sorry…” he said brokenly. Luna regarded him as he stammered, “I...I blacked out...I’ve...I’ve always blacked out. I didn’t...I never knew…” He held himself tightly; if Luna hadn’t just removed his claws, they would be deep in the flesh of his arms, and if he could cry, tears would certainly be rolling from his eyes. “I never realized...I don’t know what I’m doing. I didn’t know…” He shut his eyes tight, “You need to leave. I’m dangerous.”
A hint of pity and concern suffused Luna’s features, her emotions leaking through her tight restraint. “No…” she said softly, shaking her head. “We won’t. I won’t. We can’t. And I wouldn’t.”
He looked at her with panic and fear, “You have to! I don’t want to hurt you! And I don’t...don’t want to…” He trailed off, and put his face in his hands.
“This...these blackouts…” Luna hazarded, “They...aren’t recent?”
“I’ve always had them. Since I was a child,” he said tightly, voice low as he looked into the distance, “I just...wouldn’t remember things, sometimes. Or I’d have dreamless sleep. I never knew I did things. ...Horrible...things…” He paused for a minute before continuing, “When...I was scared, at night. When I was overwhelmed, or nervous. When I was doing...complicated work, sometimes? Or...or if I got offended, or should have been offended, maybe? I don’t know,” he shook his head, becoming frantic again as he exclaimed, “It was all the time! I don’t know, I never paid attention to it! It just...happened!” His voice dropped to a mutter as he buried his face, “I’m...so sorry…”
Luna looked at him sadly for a long moment. Eventually, she said softly, “We will find out what’s causing them, and we’ll fix it. If it’s a curse, we’ll break it. If it’s a ghost, we’ll exorcise it. If it’s...something else altogether...we’ll still find a way to make it better. There has to be a way. To make things better. I promised...and I still promise.” She looked at him, watching as his gaze drifted up from his hands as she spoke, “I...I’m not...afraid. I’m not afraid, of this, of you, of...your episodes. I trust you. I trust you wouldn’t hurt me, or make me do things. And I trust...that even in your fits, you wouldn’t do anything to me. Not with the way you’ve been acting; the things you’ve said and done.” She steeled herself, and said with certainty, “This curse, or whatever it is...it’s hurting you, and it’s not fair. You don’t deserve it. And you certainly don’t deserve to suffer alone because of it. I’m not afraid of it, and it won’t hurt me any more than it will hurt you. So I’ll stay here, and help make it better, and we’ll beat it. Because,” her gaze and voice both dropped, “we promised we’d look out for each other, right?”
He looked at her for a long moment before he said, voice soft from sorrow, “Please...if you’re in danger...promise me you’ll save yourself.” He held his eyes and muttered, “My wife...I blacked out...and when I woke...she was dead. And I...fear the worst…” He shuddered, “Please…”
Luna winced sadly, “I...I really don’t...honestly think you would try to hurt me, even in that state.” She fidgeted as she offered, “You...you call me ‘your love’, and only ever seem to take issue with the living. And...and the notes and things…I don’t think whoever wrote them means harm towards me, even if they do to everyone else...”
“Notes?” he asked, confused.
“Um, yes, you...sent notes…” she said. “I...still have them?” He didn’t respond, instead looking at her with a morose confusion, so she stood and excused herself, returning a few minutes later with the bloody papers she had tossed into the folder in her room that housed all manner of notes and scraps so far collected on this bizarre adventure. With a tight-lipped expression, she passed them to him, and his gaze traced the crimson, clotted letters of the twisted, love-sick passages. His eyes lacked any recognition, but were filled with disgust and fear as he pushed them back towards her.
As she stuffed them into a pocket, he shook his head, overwhelmed. “Please…” he muttered again, “If I do...anything. Please, promise me you’ll protect yourself. Run away. Anything. Please.”
“I…” Luna stammered. She knew full well that if she was in danger, it wouldn’t be a matter of fleeing: she would be in danger because she couldn’t flee. She was utterly at the mercy of his whims, whether they were well-intentioned or completely deranged. But she had made her decision, and would see it through. Luna nodded her head in agreeance, wondering if he really didn’t realise the futility of the promise, or if he just wanted to hear the words. “Ok,” was all she could manage. He returned her sad nod. 
After a moment, she took up the file again and held out her hand for his. He reciprocated the gesture, and they sat in silence as she continued her task. 
Category:Rise of the Runelords