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Marina was on her way back from Dr. Keffer’s when she saw large thunderclouds enter the dusk, nighttime sky. She had been able to obtain enough shillings to gather a few magic supplies, which she had intended to use for clearing out the areas the next day. It was only the end of the group's first day exploring the old town, but they were able to clear through most of the town utilizing Marina’s knowledge.
The others had agreed to travel back to the train to rest, aside from her. Marina decided that she would camp out at the old bar, Prehevil Bop, that the group found in the town’s shopping center. For safety reasons, she claimed, a raven-haired girl in their group volunteered to stay with her in the building. Her name was Samarie - she seemed to be someone who took off from the train they all arrived in before everyone else even realized the situation that they were in. Marina was certainly curious as to why she volunteered, as Samarie seemed fixated on her exclusively ever since they found her.
Regardless, the group agreed that this arrangement would be the most convenient since Marina would be gathering supplies in the area anyway, and she thought nothing irregular of the plan aside from the weather that just threatened it.
She didn’t feel the raindrops start hitting until she exited the town's old department store, unrecognizable now due to the horrors that took part in it. But once the drops started hitting, they came down hard, with thunder surely on the horizon. The weather is probably intensified by Rher’s whims, she thought. Fitting, he does control the tides of the ocean after all.
Covering herself with a Studies of Gro-goroth book she was able to find earlier, Marina ran straight to the bar. She had to sneak around from the monsters that surrounded the area, as the rain had affected her vision and she was in no condition for a fight.
Quickly unlocking the door that covered the bar's downward staircase, she hopped in and locked it back up to limit the amount of water that made it into the building. She felt a chill in the bar, since it had been locked up for months. They had left the door open earlier for daylight to come in, but with the weather, she now decided to light a few of the candles in the room and check up on the other girl.
She set down the supplies and walked around the bar, repeating Samarie's name a few times as she searched for her, but her voice was in steep competition with the drumming rain on the bar’s door. She saw a flash of light creak in the gaps in the door and heard a loud thunder that was strong enough to shake the ground a bit. Yep. Storm’s definitely started by now.
She didn’t know too much about Samarie, but she wasn’t incredibly surprised that the other girl was so hidden. She seemed to be most comfortable in the shadows anyway.
However, her mind began to grow worried as she opened the door to the speakeasy, as she couldn’t hear any response. The first floor of the bar didn’t show any signs of being attacked by monsters, so surely the other girl should be okay, she began thinking.
Holding the candle in one hand, she felt the wood creak under her shoes and water track on the floor as she walked around, shining it in every direction. No signs of her by the speakeasy’s bookshelf, weapon racks, or the perfect circle that Marina had drawn earlier that day with a Fear & Hunger statue grown out of it.
Marina thought about the time she had first encountered Samarie. When the group was searching through the town's Alll-mer church early in the morning, Marina found her in a concerning state - cowering next to a few empty barrels in the corner of one of Rher's dimensions. She was clearly shaken, Marina thought, it was a good thing that they found her before something bad happened.
And when she turned to the rightmost corner of the speakeasy, she found exactly who she was looking for. But she didn’t expect the person to be looking… well, like she did at that moment, so similar to how they found her earlier. Samarie was curled up with her hands shaking on her knees, head buried in her arms. The shakes of her body seemed to be in reaction to the noise outside, which - while more hushed in the basement, was still ear-splittingly loud.
“Um, hey Samarie…” Marina said as she knelt over with the candle, trying to direct warmth to the other girl. She looked cold to the touch, like the last gleam of natural light her skin had absorbed was many hours ago.
“Samarie… Are you doing okay?”
With Samarie being driven to the position in the room that she was in at the moment, Marina knew the question was pointless. But, she thought, in situations like these, she had to begin with showing her intent to help. She had hoped her intentions had even reached the girl through the waves of panic she seemed to be experiencing.
“I… Marina…?” Samarie managed to get out through deep inhales, slowly lifting up her head. The gaunt circles under her eyes were illuminated by the candle, and her skin shone a piercing white hue with bluish undertones. With no other light source in the room, Marina’s vision of her was strictly composed of black and white; the shadows of the surrounding areas mixing with the harsh contours of the other girl’s face, pale with fright.
“What, what are you doing here? I thought you had just left? To get supplies?”
Marina wondered to herself how the other girl's perception of time was affected by the weather. “That was thirty minutes ago, and turns out everything I got was easily draggable over here. Typical magic stuff, not like I was getting weapons for people. But anyway, what happened with you?”
Samarie looked down at her knees with an emotion that Marina couldn't quite identify due to the darkness of the room. From her body language, it looked to be shame.
"I'm... um... it's the storm," She said weakly. "I just... sat here for warmth..."
Marina looked at her patiently.
“I… A-A-A-a… Astraphobia…” Samarie sputtered out. “Fear of storms… I’ve… I’ve always had it…” Whatever last words she had managed to say were immediately cut off by a harsh crack of thunder. She instantly jumped back to how she was cowering before, as if she were the earth that was being violently split in two by the lightning cracks.
Instinctively, Marina put a hand on her shoulder in comfort.
“It’s okay, Samarie. I locked the doors,” she began, searching her brain for the best way to comfort a fear like this. Maybe through the use of reason? “The rain, wind, all that... it can’t get in here.”
“Marina, I…” Samarie gazed over at the contact, mesmerized by it. The hand Marina placed on her shoulder was a sconce of life. “I… I’m sorry you have to see me like this… It… The rain, it ruined everything.”
Marina paused, sliding her hand to the back of Samarie’s shoulder while scooting closer. “What do you mean?”
“I should be the one protecting you, I should be helping you… It wasn’t supposed to be like this…”
Marina couldn’t make sense of what she was saying, but it seemed like the other girl had a narrative of the situation they were all in built in her head that had something to do with her. She was very curious about this, but she could sense the other girl was struggling to even stay conscious at this point, let alone talk… It was getting late, anyway. She could probably do with some rest.
“It’s okay… You’re okay. Let’s get you up,” To the touch, the other girl already seemed frail and bony. She was getting worried about how her health was being affected by the lack of warmth in the room, let alone her slipping mental health.
Gently, Marina placed her hand behind the other girl's back, and her other arm beneath her elbow. To her surprise, the other girl jumped at the touch. However frightened she was, there was some pink that was able to make it to her face.
“Marina, you… What are you…”
“Let’s try to get some rest,” Marina gave her a small tap in support. Subconsciously, Marina figured that Samarie's brain didn't know what to do with itself right now; it was shocked in all directions, so she would have to help her get up. She wrapped her left arm around the girl’s shoulder and placed her right hand on the base of her stomach, which was beating as fast as the falling rain outside… perhaps it was even faster. Marina slowly rose upward, carrying up the other girl with her.
Marina hardly knew this girl, but this girl apparently knew her very well. Apparently, they went to the same magic school… but Samarie never got to talk with her, given how she claimed that was locked away for most of it in a rite that drained her body to the state that it’s in now. This girl apparently cared enough for her to want to deal with her distant, threatening father, which is why the group found her cowering at the town’s Alll-mer church in the first place. Additionally, it's why she left the train as soon as she could.
Marina has never been this forwardly helpful with anyone. But with this girl, who had already shown unreasonable amounts of devotion to her, she felt like it was more natural to. Like the other girl had broken the invisible barrier already of forward social behavior. Mostly, though, she was concerned for the other girl’s sanity in a place like this... and she had plenty of reason to be. Her mental state already seemed fragile enough after the events she experienced earlier.
Samarie's arms were limp in Marina’s hands, completely subject to the direction that Marina was walking in.
“You…” she kept repeating, staring at Marina, who was guiding her back to a hammock bunk bed near the staircase. Maybe used by old workers to rest after shifts where they stayed too late, too drunk. Marina didn’t have a clue, considering how she was never allowed to enter this place when she was younger. The bar was as new to her as it was to everyone else who was there.
“Almost there…” Marina hummed, lightly pulling the other girl forward by the arms.
Samarie sat down on the hammock with Marina’s guidance, doing nothing but looking at her. Marina let go of her as soon as she was fully seated and began to stand up.
“The monsters are locked out and… I won’t be going anywhere so… It’s okay,” Marina began. “You can feel comfortable resting here if you want to. I think Rher’s influence has definitely intensified the weather, but I feel something about this bar that makes it seem cut off from all that.”
Marina went to retrieve the candle, and maybe try to get enough lighting to read a book… If it's raining outside, she’d have to pass the time somehow. But before she could make two steps forward, she felt a hand rush in a quick motion toward her wrist. It was shaking heavily, and it felt like it had little warmth, but it was human.
Marina looked back to find Samarie intensely staring back up at her. Hardly anything in the room was identifiable, but her gaze was still piercing through the darkness.
“Marina…”
The girl’s voice wavered on the last syllables.
“What is it?” Marina looked as the other girl was opening her mouth repeatedly, practicing what to say… she was struggling to form words. Whatever she wanted to say next seemed like it was going to take all of her courage to muster.
“Um…. Marina…” she repeated, finally breaking her gaze to look at the floor. “P…Please don’t leave… c-c-cold… It’s cold. Here.”
Now that Marina thought of it, the rainy weather did prevent any heat from entering the room. And she could just put a candle by the hammock, sure, but she felt bad just leaving the other girl there, having to suffer alone in the dark as she did for who knows how long before.
“Oh… sure,” Marina said without thinking, “uh, just let me fetch that table and I’ll be right back over.”
She dragged over a short table next to the hammock, and put the candle on it. She sat next to Samarie, who had taken it upon herself to completely roll over and attach herself to the wall already.
Seeing that the other girl was okay for now, and breathing, Marina sat silently on the hammock by her side. Sitting next to the candle, she took out a Studies of Gro-goroth book she managed to grab from a bookshelf in Dr. Keffer’s and began studying it for the day’s work of magic usage ahead. She had the entire book to read, and probably a long time before the other girl calmed down… so she had a while to read it. She may as well be productive during this time, she figured.
Gro-goroth is the god of destruction , Marina began reading in her head, gotta get through the stuff I already know first, I guess.
Famously coupled with Sylvian, the god of creation... Associated with black magic... Many have sacrificed their own blood in order to gain his favor...
Associated with wolves...
Samarie's breathing seemed to stabilize with Marina's contact. She still looked frightened, but she looked better. Like she was capable now of calming herself down, even for only a brief few seconds.
Everyone who wishes to draw upon his power must familiarize themselves with the basics of necromancy first, though be warned: not all souls are pure enough to be capable of rebirth. Once you are able to understand the basics, you can use this power to gain affinity... I should go check how Samarie's doing again... and soon powerful destructive magic, or at least, that's what the old accounts say, no one has been witnessed to accomplish such a thing in today's day and age...
Samarie took a deep breath and shifted. Seems a bit more stable.
After about a half hour of reading and annotating the soggy book with an old piece of charcoal she had swiped when Keffer wasn't looking, tiredness found its way into Marina much sooner than she had expected. She lay down next to the black-haired girl on the hammock. She could use the heat as well, she rationalized, as she had to face the rain outside earlier, and catching a cold the next day would set the group back so far.
And she was too tired to retain any information from that book right now.
And after a day's worth of running, she didn't feel like climbing to a higher bunk.
Clearly, she was making the best possible decision for her health here.
Marina blew out the candle and put it down on the table, resting her hands on her torso. There wasn't much space on the hammock, so she had no choice but to sleep against Samarie's back, which was facing her as the other girl was turned completely towards the wall, still hiding her face in her hands. She could feel quick heartbeats from the other, but the way she carried herself was more relaxed.
"Marina... Thank you so much," the other girl's voice was less shaky than before - and Marina was surprised that she even had the capacity to talk at this point - but it still sounded like her voice couldn't believe what it was saying.
"Are you cold like that?" Marina said instinctively, noticing the small shakes the other girl was giving off. "You know, like directly facing the wall... You can turn over if you want. I don't mind."
She could feel the other girl freeze momentarily, tensed by what she said. "Marina... Are you sure? I can turn over...? I-I, um," she paused with a tinge of embarrassment, "I'm afraid I'm already making you uncomfortable, you know... With what you're doing, and with everything I did today..."
The other girl sighed. "I messed up, I really did... After everything today, I don't deserve your trust, so you don't have to... do this."
Hm. Today. "You mean what happened with my father?" Whenever Marina thought back to her memories with that man, they were never pleasant. "Don't worry about that right now... I don't feel like thinking about him anyway. We were mostly relieved to find you safe in that other world."
Samarie turned over slightly. "I guess... I suppose that's a relief," she said. "But you must have so many questions..."
Marina, who had been gazing at the underside of the top hammock, suddenly had her vision filled with an intense flash of lighting that filled the room, along with a bang that shook just about everything in it. When the movement stopped, Marina felt a hand gripping her wrist.
"I- I'm so sorry, I-" the other girl cried out, "I shouldn't have-"
"It's okay," Marina said, finding her way toward the other girl's hand, completing the motion by taking it fully in hers. "Whatever makes you feel better."
Samarie fell silent for a few seconds, clearly unsure of what to do. Most of what Marina could hear was her heavy breathing, which somehow overtook the sound of the harsh, beating rain that was outside. She decided to let her catch her breath.
"Just try and get some rest for now... even if it can't be sleep. It'll be better if we're prepared for tomorrow."
"We're... You and me?"
"Yep. We have to meet back up with everyone and compare progress tomorrow morning."
Marina heard something in response. It almost sounded like the beginning of a laugh, but it wasn't lighthearted enough to qualify as one. A happy sound, one laced with shock, she interpreted.
"I... okay," Samarie said, with what sounded like a small smile in her voice. "You and me... we'll do it together... I can do that."
In response, Marina lightly squeezed her hand. She felt the other girl staring up at her, but she wasn't bothered by it as she continued staring at the hammock above them. Her thoughts were lost in the sound of the rain from outside.
Before she knew it, time was taking over at a pace that was all-encompassing. The rain that threatened to drown them through the loose wood turned softer, more atmospheric. Eventually the thunder stopped, taking both of their thoughts with it.
"Oh my goodness. What a relief..."
After searching the area for the past few minutes, Abella silently peered into the speakeasy and found two girls asleep on the bottom hammock. It was well past the time any of the group had gotten up the day before, as it took everyone a solid two hours to assemble and make their way into this area of the city.
The two of them - they looked too peaceful for Abella to even think about disturbing them. Samarie, she recalled her name from earlier, seemed to be clinging onto Marina with a strength that was tight and seemed like it was comfortable. A strength that was subconsciously assured that it had what it needed at that moment.
Marina was beside her with a content expression on her face, breathing steadily. Her left arm was wrapped around Samarie's shoulder, slowly rubbing circles into her back, while Samarie was sleeping on her side, practically wrapped around her.
Abella couldn't help but let a wide grin completely take over her face. "I found them," she began in a hushed voice, turning over to the other new residents of the bar. "But you all better be quiet and let them sleep."
She pulled on Henryk's cuffed sleeve, the man who had been listening to her ramble on about the structure of the sewers that they had been traveling through for the past hour, and looked up at him. "You go cook them some breakfast now."
"What?" he scoffed, but not without a small grin. "How am I supposed to know what they like?"
"Oh, put your pride away for a little. Young love needs a bit of substance," she said with a hint of a laugh, thinking back to the romance books she had kept tucked away in her house. "In the situation they're in - they'll eat anything. Now go on." She patted him on the back.
She smiled down as Henryk walked over to the group's food storage cart, and gently slid the door to the speakeasy shut.