Breaking Point [Open]

[hattersgonnahat]

Who: Puella
What: Saving the world is hard, especially when you think it's solely up to you
When: Early June, after Tsunade's post
Where: Campus courtyard, possibly the infirmary at some point
Warnings: Self harm...? Not on purpose. Depression. Angst.


Puella had been fairly quiet today, which might be a little concerning to those that knew her well. She would refuse to say anything was wrong if asked though. And honestly, from what she understood nothing was wrong anyway. Nothing had really changed, she was just hearing about it for the first time.

Shadows were beginning to grow longer on the way back to the dorms. Puella was never really that afraid of the dark before, or night for that matter, but hearing what would happen if the sun never came back up...knowing that she will loose something if it's not stopped...how friends and family were going to disappear if she couldn't do this one thing...

She wasn't even close to being ready for it. And if Nightfall was something happening really soon, like everyone says, what if she never was?

...No, there had to be some way to learn all this Candle stuff even sooner. Everyone seems to be counting on it anyway, and they shouldn't be let down either.

Puella did not return back to the dorms, but rather found somewhere she could practice for a little while. Someplace large enough and out of the way, out of feeling too self conscious about her own power. It was so much weaker compared to everyone else, no one needed to see it.

No matter how much she tried using her Flame, all Puella was capable of was making a little bit of Radiance. All Flames were supposed to have something else unique about them, didn't they? So what could it be that she was doing wrong? Perhaps she just was not trying hard enough.

She forced out a small, radiant glow as hard as she could. With the sun beginning to go down, it did somewhat brighten up a part of the courtyard. It was a start, but it was not nearly enough. So she kept going brighter and brighter. Puella was not even at peak brightness yet when suddenly the light flickered. She felt a sharp cramp and lost concentration. "N-no...not now."

Ignoring the pain she tried again, but this time struggled more to get the Radiance bright, and had to stop even sooner. But she kept trying again, and again. Each time the burning felt worse.

It was going absolutely no where. There was something Puella was missing. Her chest hurt so much now that she didn't want to do this anymore. But she had to keep going. She had to help stop Nightfall. She just...had to.

Puella put everything into one last burst of Radiance, the biggest and brightest one yet; similar to the one she did when attacked. But other than making a light show, nothing else happened.

The burning sensation was too much now. It was the worst feeling imaginable. So much so that she curled up in the grass and wept.

Comments

[nor_iron_bars]

[A sudden burst of light would've been enough to get Jail's attention on its' own, but what really got her over there was that it seemed... almost familiar? If she'd thought it over carefully, she'd have realized that what it most reminded her of was Puella's fireworks, back when she used the rune array.]

[But right now, all she's thinking of is the crying child in front of her.]

Hey, kid, can you hear me? [She kneels carefully down in the grass beside Puella, not quite touching her.] Do you need me to bring you to the doctors?

[hattersgonnahat]

[Her face was buried so the voice startled her. She jolts to look up.]

[Had others really seen all that..? What were they going to say??]

... [She refused to answer that one. If the infirmary and more people got involved, everyone would soon find out she was a failure. No matter how much it hurt.]

[nor_iron_bars]

Hey, hey, easy...

[Jail holds up a hand, trying not to startle Puella further. The fuck happened out here? She can't sense anything hostile, no other unexpected presences, but clearly something is very wrong...]

You don't gotta go anywhere if you don't wanna, but you look kinda like you just got punched in the stomach by life? Which isn't a great sign.

[hattersgonnahat]

[Alright, maybe no one did saw what she actually did. That is a little bit better, if she can pass it off as nothing.] ...

I didn't mean to do it.

[Or let's not do that at all.]

[fireindreams]

[The occasional burst of Radiance was something Grimm had grown used to in his years in Daybreak. It was something he did not protest even if was a buzz in his ear and a burn not from his flames - students needed to practice to come into their abilities and to squash that for his own comfort would be nothing short of a dishonor.

But this is...different. Like a candle struggling to stay lit in the face of the wind. Worried, Grimm teleports into the area and once he sees Puella lying in the grass, hurries over to kneel beside her.]

My dear Puella...what has happened here? Are you unharmed?

[hattersgonnahat]

[Puella had thought there was no one nearby, now she felt a sense of dread that somebody arrived. Granted, it didn't feel that much different from that burning feeling.]

I-I'm... [She wanted to say nothing was wrong, but there was a hundred things that weren't fine right now.]

[fireindreams]

[Grimm cannot smell any blood but he knew from his own time as a human that did not mean someone was completely okay. Internal bleeding was still a problem for humans - they were not granted the same regeneration he benefited from.

Telling the Troupe Master she is fine will sadly not work. But rather then ask more questions as to what happened, Grimm simply places a hand on her back.]

Easy, my friend. Breathe in and out. No need to answer until you are comfortable. But if you need to go to the infirmary simply nod your head and I will take you there.

[hattersgonnahat]

[If she goes there there's a chance she might get scold at, or worse. She's not actually sure what will happen if the school found out what she did, or that she wasn't fit for this Candle business...what even would happen after that?]

[At the same time, the pain wasn't really going away...]

[...It took awhile, but she finally nods.]

[partiallysquirrelblood]

[Several squirrels, seeing Puella collapse, run over to check on her. They can't really do much, but they can at least make sure she doesn't hurt herself further. Several others run off into the night, looking for Doreen.]

[They're apparently successful, as Doreen and Tippy Toe quickly arrive.]

Puella? What happened? Are you okay?

[hattersgonnahat]

[She was pretty sure she saw something rustling up in the trees while on the ground, but made no motion to it. It's not too surprising that her little stunt scared off some the animals, but it didn't seem like anything important to pay attention to.]

[She merely laid there with a quiet whine, waiting for the pain to pass. In fact, Puella didn't even know Doreen was there until she spoke up. ...It probably did make sense actually. Who knows how late it might be now.]

...I-I'm fine. [Worst lie of the century.]

[partiallysquirrelblood]

Inspector Clawseau said you collapsed. That doesn't sound like fine to me.

[Doreen kneels down to get a closer look at Puella. The lack of light doesn't really impeded that any, thankfully. Squirrel night-vision is awesome.]

Seriously dude, what's wrong?

[hattersgonnahat]

[There's...nothing unusual to see here. No sirree. Perhaps the only good thing about doing the magic equivalent of pulling a muscle was that it wasn't the easiest thing to see.]

[She stifled back some tears.] ...I was working on something. [To help prove that everything was fine, Puella tried to sit up better. The searing pain inside returned and she suddenly had to fall back down.]

Rivera Combo Tag

[unpocoloco]

Their talks have strayed farther from their rooms and the dorms, going along campus grounds. They talk about her day, his nights, about Coco and the kid around here and nothing at all. Fear makes him want to grip her hand tight, lest he lose her again. Fear in another way keeps him from doing so. So he just walks with her and talks and hopes, in the back of his mind, that nothing terrible happens.

Which is unfortunate with how often that's not the case here. It starts with a discomforting prickle upon his skin, a sort of ache that makes him frown and distracts him from her words. It fades out somewhat only to come back again stronger, and this time his wincing is obvious, a hiss slipping free as he braces upon his cane. He apologizes for holding her up, immediately moving them along as soon as the pain eases off again. It's about then that he spots the girl ahead and it's only a second before the light flares bright again.

"Puel-- ghh!" The book and papers he'd been carrying for the evening slip from his grasp. His knee drops to the ground, both hands on the cane now. His skin smokes a little as the flesh of his knuckles burns away, patches all over him following suit. He doesn't know how long it lasts but it can't be long. He looks to Puella ahead then up to Imelda. "Puella. She needs help."

[no_dejare_de_quererte]

Imelda isn't quite as sensitive as Héctor is to radiance. Though she worries when he has to stop and brace himself, she doesn't realize what's going on until she sees the girl... and by that point, Héctor has already dropped to his knees in pain. She starts, touching his shoulder and moving to shield him--and for a moment there's a real fear in her eyes that might be very familiar for him.

But he says a name--Puella--and she recognizes the girl up ahead as one of the students from Aube. It's a difficult choice. She doesn't want to just leave Héctor here in pain, but... He's insisting, and there's a child that's clearly in some kind of trouble. She looks back to Héctor a moment, clearly not happy with this choice... But then she lets go of him to go to the girl's side.

"Niña..? Are you hurt?" she asks, kneeling down to touch the girl's shoulder--even as she tries to position herself to be a barrier between her and Héctor.

[hattersgonnahat]

"I-I can't..." Puella sobbed. She looked up to see Imelda but quickly realized that were was another figure behind her. Can't exactly make out who it was while they were hunched over like that, as well as obstructed. But she felt like she knew it somehow. "...Héctor?"

Oh no, that is who it was. Why was he hurt like that!? Why did it look like he was...

...

It was her Flame. She did this.

"N-no...No, no, no, no!!" Puella pushed further away from both of them, with tears filling up more. She wasn't supposed to burn him at all!

[unpocoloco]

The look of fear in Imelda's eyes is hard to bear. It takes him back to that moment, that place, with blood at her middle and pain upon her, looking back at him in fear as he disintegrated-- but this isn't there and as much as he wants to look away and hold he close at once, he does neither. He meets her eyes and bobs his head Puella's way, sighing as she goes.

But the relief is short-lived. He hears his name and in moments is greeted with another round of fear. He hears her protest and for a moment he fears she'll run.

"Puelita!" He calls. "Puella, wait! Please." He rises up unsteady, then closes his eyes. His magic works, taking that old form away. Although he can still feel the burn and ache to the empty core of him, at least she won't see it now. "It's okay," He insists. "I'm okay. Will you talk to us, niña? Please?"

It doesn't feel great, the remnants of radiance lingering in the air, but he moves closer anyway, going back to Imelda's side. He places a skeletal hand on his wife's shoulder, just to give her some warning, before he kneels back down.

[inflictwounds]

It's the glow that catches his eye - bright and brilliant, the tell tale sign of a Candle's Radiance. That gets his attention. Despite what Daybreak is meant for, it's not something you see every day, and it's...concerning. When he drifts closer and sees the huddled form, his stomach drops.

His approach is slow, scanning the area to see if there's any danger, any threat, but it's just Puella laying there and crying. He stops when he's at her side, and he lowers himself into a crouch. He hesitates for a moment, before reaching out to her side. "Puella?"

Can she hear him? He hopes so - he doesn't know quite what to do, and he fumbles as he thinks of what to do, what to say. He doesn't know how to handle this at all. "What happened?"

[hattersgonnahat]

She can hear him. Though she scrunched up more now that someone found her like this. In this sorry state. Possibly unfit for this school itself.

"I..." Puella tried to pull back the crying, though she was still muffled. "I can't do it. I-I can't do anything. It's going to be my fault..."

[inflictwounds]

Hieke places a hand on her back, brows knitting together. He doesn't know what to do, but he wants to make things better. Make her feel better.

"Nothing's going to be your fault," he says softly, hand rubbing a circle on her back. "Don't push yourself so hard. You're doing just fine." But he has no idea what she's done, does he?

[soft_focus]

[Reira isn't around to see the 'How' of Puella getting in the Infirmary but...she Is eventually at the infirmary. Not because she knows the other is there, mind. Reira seems to very rarely seek anyone out, least of all other human beings. Probably the closest she's come is trying to locate a particular cat.

But she's passing for Some reason, and whatever is coming from the infirmary emotions-wise is at least enough to catch the girl's attention.

And then seeing the Who of the emotions catches the attention for a bit Longer. Enough to come inside even.] Oh...

[This isn't a good thing at all, why are you in here.] ...You're in here now?

[As if somehow, being in the infirmary could mean being stuck there for a few months. It seems incredibly terrible.] Why'd they do that..?

[She means the doctors.]

[hattersgonnahat]

[The emotions Reira was likely hearing was mostly boredom. There's not a lot you can do when you're confined to a bed, who would have guessed?]

[Had she been here during that night however...it would have been far more interesting. Nothing but an abundance of shame and guilt, fear and loss, to name a few. Only some of it still lingered, many of it had recovered since this morning, but not fully forgotten. ...Puella had really felt like she wasted a lot of people's time.]

[Her light show had caught the attention of quite a few people, and they all must have known she was in here by now. A whole new guest was quite a surprise.] -! It's you again!

[She wanted to get up from the bed a lot more than this, but ah, just in case Hieke or Ekkehardt were around, she won't move around too much.]

Ah, it's not for too long, I'm fine now! I just...did something last night.

[Rather vague way to put it.]

[soft_focus]

...Yeah. [Of course it is her. She's the only her she can be.

If there's another her, tell her now, so she can nip that stuff in the bud real fast.

Anyway boredom is a familiar hospital room feeling, so she's coming over to sit somewhere and keep company.] ...What was 'something'?

[Naturally, the minute Anything is vague, she must Ask.]

[evangelclairvoyance]

[When he had come over to investigate the burst of light from the courtyard, he hadn't expected to find a young girl collapsed on the ground. It takes him a moment, but he soon realizes that he actually recognizes the girl.]

Miss Tempus! Are you all right?

[hattersgonnahat]

[She whimpered and curled up even tighter. Pushing herself that hard was a terrible mistake. At this rate how was she going to defend anybody though?]

It hurts...

[evangelclairvoyance]

[He kneels beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder]

Please, let me help.

[His hand glows as he casts a small healing spell to ease some of the pain]

Any better?