Glimpsing the Shroud - Part 1

"Alright, everybody, I don't have time to stick around this time. Great job pushing right up to the end," John said, the only one of the returning trainees that was still smiling. Aclysia had her typical neutral expression on, and the Nekos were so close to passing out that all they could muster was a vaguely affirmative yawn as they collapsed, together, a few feet from the doorway.

"...Well, I can at least stick around for a few seconds." John's smile grew a little wider as he lifted the Nekos with the utmost care, their slender forms as light to him now as an actual cat once was. They didn't even stir until he was tenderly settling them onto the couch, at which point both of them stirred to wakefulness only long enough to plant a kiss on one of his cheeks each.

"Love you, Myaster."

"Love ya, Myaster."

"I love you both too. Get lots of sleep, okay? We'll be back at it again soon, if you two are up for it. But if you're too tired, that's okay too."

"Nyooo," Maera mewled, but she was asleep again before the last of the sound passed her lips.

John took a moment to admire the sleeping women, but only a moment. He could already hear the sounds of footsteps upstairs, and he knew it wouldn't be long before the kittens sprinted down the stairs, and once they did, all bets were off on a timely escape.

"Creator John, before you go, I believe Farrah had a request of you."

"It's going to have to wait, unfortunately." John gave Aclysia a regretful smile, but followed it quickly with a shrug. "Sorry, we don't have any spare time like we did last night. Tell her I'll get on it as soon as I get back, though. We can take a few minutes out of the third rotation, I just don't want to keep Moira and Kim waiting."

"Actually, her request is about the training." John had already been mentally preparing for a World Shift, but Aclysia's question stopped him cold, derailing his train of thought. "She wishes to accompany you, Creator John."

"Uh... since when does Farrah want to be around fighting? She doesn't even like being around when we're patching ourselves up." John blinked in utter confusion, to which Aclysia gave the barest of smiles.

"I was informing her about how happy it makes me to assist you, and that I have been told most of you experience surges of emotion and something Lerianna once referred to as a 'runner's high' while you are training. Farrah was interested in-"

"Oooh, ooh, is he back? John, wait one moment, please!"

Farrah's voice came from the upper floor, accompanied by the rapid thumps of someone descending the stairs. John's eyes pivoted over as Farrah rushed to join them, her hands erratically smoothing the wrinkles from her half-disheveled dress.

"S-sorry, John, I was so excited I couldn't get to sleep. I meant to be awake when you got home, but I just heard the door close, so I threw on my clothes, and..." Farrah took a moment to heave a few deep breaths, the exertion of her half-sprint and the frantic outpouring of words finally catching up to her. She was still grinning the whole time, especially when she finally managed to recover her breath. "...a-and I was hoping you might let me come with you! Aclysia told me there were new emotions I might not have felt yet?"

"W-well, maybe, but is that really worth being around all the fighting?" John asked, finding himself even more surprised by her enthusiasm than the request. "Farrah, I've seen you wince when the kittens were playing a little too hard. And for all we know, you might be able to feel the emotions of the creatures in the barrier, too. I don't want you around them if you're going to be experiencing what it's like to fight them."

"I've thought about that, but I've gotten really good at blocking things out! I think as long as I have something else to focus on, it should be okay. Besides, I won't be there long, just one or two runs!" Farrah clasped her hands together in an attempt to make herself even more adorable, wiggling back and forth slightly as she smiled up with the biggest eyes she could muster. "Aclysia said you had a spot open in the second rotation, so I wouldn't even be kicking someone out!"

"So that's why she didn't ask to go along with Aclysia. It's going to slow us down, but..." John frowned slightly, wondering how the others would react. As he mulled it over, Vallya's words played in his mind again.

_"You'd really let me accompany you? Have you even told them about, you know...?"

"...Alright," John said after a moment, making an effort to sound less **** than he felt. "You can come, Farrah. It'll be a good chance for you to meet Moira and some of the others, anyway."

"Yay!" Farrah's face had fallen when John started to frown, and she'd even started to look a little disturbed while John was contemplating, but his acceptance brought her back around in a moment. "I'll do whatever you say, and I'll be super quiet while you work. You won't even know I'm there!"

"I better know you're there, because I expect you to be behind me at all times while we're in a dungeon, alright?" John said firmly, giving Farrah a lifted brow for emphasis. "You're way too low level to be anywhere that I can't immediately protect you. You're weaker than some of the kittens, Farrah."

"Call me weak again and see what happens," Farrah countered, lifting up her fists and pouting in a way that left John **** but to burst out into chuckles, something that only furthered her mock anger.

"Well, if being feisty was enough to clear a dungeon, you'd be my top helper," John teased, messing up Farrah's hair. The brunette gave a half-squeal and hopped backward, protecting her valued locks from further sabotage. "As it is, you're going to have to settle for sticking close to my side. I'll make sure you stay safe, you can see how the others feel, and we'll all be happy."

Farrah was so busy celebrating that she seemed to miss the look that crossed John's face. It was true, he really didn't mind letting Farrah tag along for one or two quick dungeons, though that wasn't what had gotten him to say yes. It was mostly the fact that this was as good of an excuse as any to introduce her to Moira and Tricia properly. Tricia's drones had scanned Farrah at various points, the same as all the other residents of John's little world that didn't actively avoid the flying contraptions, but despite having informed Moira about using Purify on a human being, he'd never actually presented the result of that unintentional act.

Nor had he told her about the fact that he had created a demon. ...Now two demons. Nor what had happened to Vallya. Nor the other things he'd done, the ones that even-

"Everyone has secrets," John thought, shaking his head to chase away the shadows. "None of this is relevant to the war, anyway. But it would be nice to have one more thing shared with her."

The sound of ferocious little paws and claws beginning to rouse in the rooms down the hall alerted John to the fact that their time alone in the lounge was drawing to a quick close. Farrah seemed to sense the same, and the devilish little grin on her face was all he needed to see to know they were on the same page.

"Come on, Farrah. Let's go introduce you to the Order of the Golden Rose."

"Should I have dressed up?" Farrah asked, glancing over herself.

"I should make you more outfits." John only spared a moment to follow her gaze, eyes trailing along the red dress as a half-dozen doors popped open in unison. "You don't even realize just how dressed up you always are!"

"Aww, that's cute! It's like I'm a princess or something!"

"Papa! Papa, we wanna-"

"We're gonna-"

"GET HIM!"

John's hand darted out toward Farrah. She took it, the movement almost seeming to be in slow motion to John's far more advanced eyes. The moment her fingertips touched his palm, with Moira and Miriam already bounding to the back of the couch and then pouncing toward him, John and Farrah disappeared in an unceremonious 'poof'.

Moira and Miriam landed effortlessly on their hands and feet. They both huffed and let out a frustrated series of mewls as they spun around, as if this time would somehow be different to the half-dozen times they'd witnessed their papa disappear before.

"He got away!"

"That little rat!"

"We're gonna get him when he comes back!"

"Yeah, we'll wait here all day if we have to!"

"You guys wanna get breakfast?"

"BREAKFAST!!!"

The warping of the world was a relief. The lack of paws or claws wrapping around his waist to trap him in the lounge for what would surely be at least a half-hour of cuddles and petting was nice, too. Even in the darkness of the shed, a smile lit on John's face at how close they'd come to total cat-astrophe.

"No... no, no, this place isn't right. W-what's going on?"

"Huh?" John was half-turned around when a metallic clanging echoed out, hastening his movement. He spun around to find Farrah collapsing against the thin wall, rattling the tin structure as her knees trembled, and then buckled altogether.

"I- I thought we were just going back. Where are we? Why is it like this?!" Farrah said, her voice rising, a tremble of terror entering her tone.

"Farrah, it's a little dark, but we're back in the same place. This is just a shed."

Even as the words formed on his lips, John knew they weren't addressing the right problem. Farrah didn't look like she was scared of the dark. She looked like she was petrified... of everything. Her eyes darted around frantically, as if seeing horrific visions in every shadow. Her knees were pulled tightly to her chest, and her arms were clutching at them so tightly that her hands had gone white nearly to her wrists.

"I-it's not the same place. It can't be! I've never felt anything like this. It's everywhere, it's everything! It-it's even in... in me!" Farrah's voice rose, to the point she was nearly screaming. "It's even in me, John! M-make it stop! Please, I wanna go home!"

"Farrah, I-"

"I don't wanna talk about it, I just wanna go home!" Farrah wailed, hands moving from her knees to press her palms into her forehead, shivering and shaking her head wildly back and forth. "Please, let's just go home!"

"I can't! It has a five minute cooldown, I need to-"

"What's going on?!"

John turned to see one of the Order's knights at the door, holding the shed's door open, one hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Get him out of here! It's all over him, he's so... please!" Farrah lost the words, breaking down into shivers and pressing herself into the corner of the shed, as far as she could from the knight.

"Go get Moira and Tricia. Right now!" The knight only hesitated a moment; despite the unusual situation, he'd immediately recognized John, and bounded off toward the manor at once. John could see more staffers, some proper warriors and some simple clerics maintaining the lawn. He only had to glance at Farrah for a moment to see that she'd noticed them too, and he quickly threw the door shut once more.

"Farrah, I'm going to get you out of here. Just a little while longer, okay?" John did his best to sound soothing, though it didn't seem to help.

"No, no, no! I can't take it, it's all so awful! It's seeping into me, I... I..." Farrah gave up on her pleas, falling into a series of sobs and wracking, wordless wails. John instinctively went to kneel beside her, but the echo of her words in his mind stopped him.

"Farrah, I- should I leave? Am I causing this, too?"

"N-no, please don't-" Farrah's words were barely comprehensible, muffled and warped by the convulsions of her chest and throat, but they couldn't obscure the look of comprehension in her eyes. "Y-you don't have to leave. Y-yo-y-yu're-"

"Breathe. Deep breaths. It's okay, I'm here." John didn't wait to ask further questions—the moment she said he didn't need to leave, he was crouched beside her, his arms wrapped around Farrah as if he could ward off whatever strange feelings were haunting her. A moment of horrified expectation seemed to freeze in his chest, but rather than shirk away from him, she pressed herself against him as if trying to hide herself away in his ribs.

"Y-you're th-the o-o-only thing..." Farrah gave a loud sniffle and a few shuddering breaths before she could manage to continue, "the only thing that doesn't feel like that!"

John desperately wanted to ask what she was feeling, but it seemed clear that even Farrah herself didn't know. Besides, her well-being was his first priority, and that meant taking her farther from that feeling, not diving into its roots.

"Then focus. Just on me. Forget everything else," John whispered, lifting up his hands while keeping his arms locked around her body. One palm rested on her damp cheek, his thumb doing its best to wipe futilely at the river of tears still flowing down her face. The other went to her hair, weaving its way to gently stroke at her scalp and chase the terrors from her mind. "I'm right here."

"I-I don't think I can," Farrah whispered brokenly, still shivering and sobbing with each exhale. "It's everywhere, and it's so awful. It's all I can feel…"

"No. You can feel me," John encouraged, pulling her head a little closer to his chest. "Just focus on that. I'm all you need right now, Farrah."

"I-it's not... not working. It's just so strong, John. It's everywhere, and it's seeping into me, even when I try to shut it out…"

I felt that you were having a lot of fun out here. Like, a lot of fun."

"Farrah, just keep focusing on me. I have an idea. Just... feel me. Only me." John kept stroking Farrah's hair while he closed his eyes in concentration. She gave a soft whimper that he was too focused to react to, his thoughts already drifting to the pulsing in his chest. The process of drawing on the Shard by his own will, outside of his abilities, was still incredibly difficult. Twice he failed, the flow not quite blending with his own mana. Only on the third attempt did he feel the second heartbeat pulse in rhythm with his own, feel his mind light with new energy and the Shard begin to pour its heat through his veins.

"John...?" Farrah asked, voice still trembling, but now at least a little more coherent. "What are you-"

"Don't think. Don't worry about what, or how, or why," John whispered. The shed began to light up as the same pattern of glowing lines formed on his arms again, pulsing rhythmically in tune with the Shard in his chest. Farrah looked at his arms, not in fear, but in wonder. "Close your eyes, Farrah. Just focus on me. I'm here, and you're safe, I promise. You'll be home soon, okay?"

Farrah's head tilted back as best as she could, trying to meet John's gaze. There was a little more of her usual self in there, subtle but certain, her tremors reduced to twitches now as she continued to hold onto John for dear life.

"...Okay. Okay, thank you," Farrah whispered, before tucking her head and closing her eyes. The gesture was **** at first, and she squeezed her eyelids closed like a child hiding from a monster. But as the seconds ticked by, her body began to loosen one muscle at a time. They stayed like that until the door to the shed was hastily thrown open, at which point Farrah reflexively tried to press herself even further against the wall, though she only succeeded in rattling the shed slightly and driving herself deeper into John's embrace.

"What's going-"

"Are you oka-"

"Drone in, you two, out, now!"

John had expected arguments, and for a moment, he certainly saw one in Moira's features. But whether it was the sharpness of his words, the speed of their delivery, or the grim look on his face, Tricia and the Warden both saw something in his interruption that silenced any questions. They backed away, one lone drone replacing the both of them, hovering into the room all but silently as the door was shut behind it.

"It's alright. Just friends, Farrah. I promise, it's all okay. No one will hurt you. I won't let them," John murmured, trying to get Farrah back into some semblance of comfort. She didn't respond verbally, but he felt the faintest of nods against his shoulder.

John eyed the drone with visible annoyance when it remained still for a little longer than he'd have liked, but a few seconds later it finally began to scan the two of them. Farrah whimpered slightly at the red light's intrusion into their space, but she held herself together well enough, with only a little trembling. John activated his World Shift a few times to make sure that the cooldown notification never disappeared, counting down the seconds as Farrah quaked in his embrace.