The Stacks

[Sebastian Morter]

Sebastian's fingers closed around her's, fleetingly allowing the contact to last. His face characteristically stony. He saw the suprise on her face and flinched pulling his hand back.
He nodded slowly and then looked away, "I didn't ask for pity" He muttered, feeling somewhat self-conscious.
"There's nothing to be sorry for. Life is." He murmured bitterly.
Sebastian easily read the guilt and felt fleetingly angry at himself for being so 2D.
He shrugged trying to appear casual. He couldn't understand, it was like he wanted to be angry with her, but something was preventing him. It was like...Sebastian frowned.
"I saw your mother....mostly. It was the clearest memory" He winced at the thought, "I saw Caeleb.....that was painful. The guy has it in for you Krys" He smiled briefly a little smug, "And....the Coven.....the Core....Kildara......Dani" He nodded, not understanding. Those memories had been brief, short, flashes. Hard to make out.

[Krysta Hedwig]

Krys nodded, going over in her head the memories he had seen. Kryta was not a cruel person. She wasn not even an angry person. But some of her secrets were just that: sectrets. And they were secret for a good reason. This complete stranger knew too much about her. She'd seen inside his head. He was irrational and led byhate and anger. In short she didn't think she could trust him. There was too much at stake for her to be nice.

She drew herself together and climbed to her feet. Her fingers closed around the hilt of her wand and she fixed him with an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry you had to see that, Sebastian. But I can't let you go around telling people the things you know. People could die. You may not care about that...but I have a job to do." she said solemnly. She pointed the wand right at his face, its tip barely inches from the space between his eyes.
"I'm sorry. But I have to do this..."

[Sebastian Morter]

Sebastian watched her, knew for some reason her premptive move before she made it.
He raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't I be killing you because you saw all that?" The question was lolling around in his own brain.
"Okay....you do you little destiny-fate job thing, and I'll continue mine. " He got up, "You won't do it" He muttered looking straight at her, "But I don't know why"

[Krysta Hedwig]

She stared at him as he spoke and her wand hand began to tremble. She shook herself and pointed the wand at him more firmly, her face taking on an expression of determination and resolve.
But her expression slipped into confusion and she lowered her wand. How had he made her do that? Or maybe by seeing into her mind he knew she didn't have it in her. She knew for the sake of her duty that she ought to modify his memory...and yet she couldn't do it. She felt a mixture of anger and odd affection for him. She stepped back from him, moving towards the corridor.
"If you tell anyone..." she began in a threatening tone, but somehow couldn't finish the sentence. She turned and fled from him, running as far from him as her legs could carry her.
She was suddenly afraid of him...of what he did to her.

[Sebastian Morter]

Sebastian didn't let his face change, the expressionless stony wasn't changing. He watched with slight smugness as her wand trembled. The detirmination she presented lasted only seconds. He cracked open a winning smile but it didn't last, "See? That wasn't so difficult was it now?"
He winced as her threat trailed off, knowing she was more serious than ever. He couldn't understand what was so wrong.....afterall she'd seen things he didn't want to see himself. He watched her run, the terror in her eyes and suddenly he felt sick, anger tormenting his expression. But the desolation came, blacking out everything, he could feel the darkness overcome him, the anger turned to pain and Sebastian knew he was done for. His feet gave way and he slumped to the ground. Memories bursting through his blockade flooding his vision. He could hear the screams piercing his ears, the taste of blood on his lips, the deep marks etched in his back, the jets of light, the pain, the cruetly. But what hurt most.....was the fact he was all alone.

[Krysta Hedwig]

Krys was running towards the staircase when she felt it.
"No! I don't want to feel it!" she wailed, startling the ghost that was gliding down the stairs. He stared at her, shaking his head before disappearing through a wall. Krysta was practically weeping but she could not shut out the thoughts and feelings that Sebastian was unkowingly sending into her head.
"Why can't I shut you out?!" she screamed, dropping to the floor. She looked back towards the corridor she'd just come from, but shook her head.
"I don't want to." she whispered to herself. The things she'd just seen were horrific: blood, pain, torture. But what followed was the grief and loneliness and the frustraton that came with it.
You have to go to him, you know you do. You need to hold him. You need to show him he's not alone.
She shook her head, her conscience battling in her heart. But her heart agreed with her conscience. It was her fear that wanted her to leave. And Krysta Hedwig had never given in to her fear.

She slowly got to her feet and began to walk back towards the corridor to the library. She saw him huddled in the corner where they had been previously talking. She forced herself to keep walking, the corridor suddenly seeming longer than she remembered. After what felt like forever she reached him and slowly dropped to her knees beside him. She stared at him for a few seconds, knowing what her heart wanted her to do.
With a shaking hand she reached out and touched him, placing her hand on his back and very slowly and gently stroking it.
He was like a scared animal and she felt like he could turn on her at any second. But still she ran her hand down his back.
"Sebastian." she whispered.

[Sebastian Morter]

Sebastian hunched lower, closing his eyes in physical pain, then he felt something. An emotion that wasn't his, confusion, and fear. He looked up, struggling to keep his face devoid of emotion. He found her, Krys kneeling next to him. She reached out slowly and touched him. Sebastian watched her incredulously, not understanding the sudden kindness. Sebastian heard his name, carried through the still air, and forced himself to look into her eyes. He couldn't muster any strength to be arrogant or dismissive. Instead he just looked at her, feeling more and more like a monster.
But the anger was gone, he was too exhausted to feel anger. He could still see the pictures flashing across his vision, but they'd dulled and the screams were now distant echoes. But he didn't want her hurt. He didn't understand why, but it was like now that he knew her, he wanted to protect her. The guilt seeped in, his gaze dropping to his feet. He didn't feel any anger, but just confusion. She made him so vulnerable, so utterly weak. Anger was such a strong emotion, he couldn't muster now. Her hand felt comforting, but he knew he should walk away. He knew he was eventually going to push her away, just like every other one. He couldn't hurt her like that, he was pretty sure the anger and regret would finish him before anything else did. Sebastian knew he had to leave.

He looked into her eyes, pleading with her to understand. But his face was stony, pale against the low-lit library books.
"I must leave"

[Krysta Hedwig]

She felt it all and tears gently rolled down her cheeks. But they weren't tears of pain. They were tears of sadness. She looked at him as he spoke and her hand fell still on his back. She managed a weak smile and softly shook her head.
"You can't leave." she said softly as a tear dropped from her cheek onto his hand. "Don't you understand, Sebastian?" she asked, her voice nearly breaking. "You can never leave now. You're in here." she said, another tear rolling onto his hand and she placed a hand over her chest. "You're in here now. Wherever you, however far you go...you'll still be here." she explained softly. She looked at the ground for a second before looking into his eyes and placing her hand gently onto his chest.
"Just like I'll be in here."

[Sebastian Morter]

Sebastian watched her tears, slowly lifting his hand to wipe them away. He couldn't understand this, he didn't know what he felt. Everything was a torrent inside him. He didn't want her crying, he didn't want her in pain. One person was enough. He could feel her sadness inside of him and he understood.
"But I have to. Don't you see that?" He sighed, moving a tear from her cheek.
"What happened to us?" He asked softly, his own self unbelieving. He could feel the cracks in his expression. He knew he was doing it again. He'd never let anybody in this far. Somehow she seemed to disregard the blockade he had. It was like a free pass for her, she could feel everything. Guilt resided over his eyes.
He placed a hand gently over her hand, trying to bring himself to push her away.
"You can't be in here. There's nothing there." He looked away from her at the long corridor. She knew she could feel the pain he was in, but understand it, she probably could not. He wantedto be angry at her for letting him in. Angry at himself for letting her in, for the damned mind-meld and for being in her heart. He wanted to. But he couldn't. An unexplainable emotion he couldn't bring himself to understand.

[Krysta Hedwig]

Krysta shook her head. She couldn't understand it but she didn't want to let go. She didn't want him to leave. And it wasn't the effects of the mind-meld, either. This was her, and her alone straight from her heart. She drew herself together and locked up all the fear and hate and pain, enveloping it in a bubble, shielding them both from it. She wanted to give him peace. She wanted to give him freedom. Because she could see it now. He had been so damaged by the things that had happened to him that he had lost himself. Sebastia didn't know who he was, because he he could feel was the pain. But he was in there somewhere. She could feel it. I was down deep and locked away, smothered by every negative feeling he harboured.
Her cheek hummed where he had touched her and it was that she held onto.
"Do you feel that?" she asked, focusing on the warm feeling she was feeling. She focused on that tiny light down inside him, struggling to breath beneath its suppressors, and she sent i to him.
"Can you feel that? Deep down? You'e not empty, Sebastian. You're just drowning."
And I want to pull you out she sent the thought to him, hoping he could hear it.

"I'll go...if that's what you really want." she said, her face grave. "But I'll be there...when you decide you want to breathe again." she whispered. She reached out her hand and touched his cheek with a sad smile.
She got to her feet and slowly walked away.

[Sebastian Morter]

He knew what she was doing, and he felt all the anger evaporate, the memories faded and the screams enstilled. Somehow he felt empty now, with everything he'd held onto for so long gone, he felt like he'd lost a companion, something close and yet not dear.

He watched her cautiously as she concentrated, feeling oddly light, he felt something grow, try to push up. Was he to let it?
He closed his eyes, but didn't let it overtake him he just held it there like a candle wondering whether to blow it out. He didn't know what would happen if he let it go, he opened his eyes looking straight at her, wondering where his anger had gone too, why he'd held onto it for so long. The image of his father came into his head and the warmth evaporated, replaced by guilt. He felt even worse because he knew she felt it too. He pushed it away, trying to smile for her sake.
"You know how far deep is?" He chuckled sadly. He winced as he felt her thought in his head.
Is this supposed to happen? He sent back confused.
Why? He sighed.

He watched her leave, waiting for the anger that never came. Instead he felt sadness, grief, torment. He got up and ran after her, he took her arm gently, looking at her like she was breakable.
"How can I let you leave now?"

[Krysta Hedwig]

She gasped as he grabbed hold of her and looked into his face. Something stirred. Something she'd not felt in a long time. As he spoke her expression became unreadbale, as did her emotions. All she felt was a swirling sensation in her stomach. It was a moment before she realised it was physical and not emotional. Butterflies. He was giving her butterflies. She sought out the tiny flicker inside him and it glowed, responding to her touch.
"You can't." she replied.

And then she kissed him. It came out of nowhere. She hadn't planned it. It was instinctive. It didn't last long and as she broke it the light iside him glowed a tiny bit more.
"Sebastian..." she began a wonderful glimmer of hope filling her. She shared it with him.
"Feel that." she began. "You're not empty. You're just running low on fuel. You just need to be filled up." she said, holding back a happy laugh.

[Sebastian Morter]

Sebastian winced as she gasped, unhappy at himself for frightening her. He watched carefully as her face became void and was about to reply when she kissed him. He hesitated for a second, finally realising what the emotion was. Something he'd never felt, but only read about. He loved her.
He felt the softness of her lips and his heart screamed for mercy. She had him completely under her finger. He couldn't stop her for the world. Love....a totally new emotion.

He dared to smile as she went on, before he did something he never would've dreamed off, swept up in his little word of dark and thunder. He felt the warmth she was giving off, and couldn't help but smile. He leant in, lifting her chin and kissed her tenderly, hesitantly. He was so worried he was going to hurt her. His lips moved expertly over her's, but he still was so confused. What had she done to him? How could he have changed so much in so little time? What had this one done to change him? How could he love her when he didn't even know what the world meant himself.

[Krysta Hedwig]

As he returned the kiss, Krysta's heart sang. She sighed deeply and when he smiled she smiled too. When finally, after what felt like forever, the kiss ended she laughed quietly and lightly.
"Seeee...I knew you knew how to smile." she said, leaning her forehead against his. She wrapped her wrists together around the back of his neck and moved in close to him.
"I can feel you filling up already." she told him softly. "It's time to start letting go of the pain, Sebastian. Start afresh." she said gently.
She felt his confusion. But she also felt something else. Love. She pulled her head back slightly and looked at him hopefully.
"Is that what I think it is?" she asked sensing his unfamiliarity with the emotion. A smile crept back onto her face. "Don't waste it by thinking about it. Just enjoy it." she suggested. And then she leaned in and kissed him once more.

[Sebastian Morter]

He could feel her mood lifting, her laugh felt like a tho usand kisses against his heart. He cracked a crooked smile.
"Only for you" He whispered, kissing her forehead. He closed his eyes, their proximity giving him relief rather than anxiety.
"If only you knew how hard that is. Anger was the only thing I had to protect myself against.." He swallowed hard, "against it all." He winced slightly. He wasn't going to fill her in on anything else. Somethings even a mind-meld wouldn't show.
He flashed her a smile, reserved it seemed only for her.
"It is if you return it" He murmured against her hair. He noticed her hopefulness and smiled, "I guess I'm just lucky"
He smirked against the kiss, and wrapped his arms around her tiny frame. "Never" He muttered running his tongue over her bottom lip. "Never"