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memory
An electric current courses through his system at a precisely set interval, pulling his consciousness up from the abyss that surrounds him.
A voice faintly reaches his ears, words distorted through layers of swirling darkness. He has to struggle to comprehend.
“...clearly insufficient, but... ...some use. Further testing...”
The shapes of the words echo in his ears, but for all his struggling, he can’t yet grasp their meaning. A dim light, so dim, faintly flickers in the distant dark — first one, and then another, and then another. He tries, but he can’t lift his arms to reach them.
“...facilities at Azys Lla.”
Another electric jolt burns those two words into his mind: Azys Lla. They echo and ring in his head, growing and filling the space of his skull until no other thoughts remain. Azys Lla. Azys Lla.
A sharp cracking sound pierces the silent abyss, first one, and then another — cracks begin to fill the space before him, spraying salt and brine as steel columns buckle and wrench all about him. He tries to move his arms once again, but the pressure is too great — he tries to shout, to scream, to beg for help, but the seawater fills his mouth, fills his lungs, drags him under, so deep into the abyss that nothing could hope to bring him back...
Until a louder, sharper, even more cacophonous noise brings him back to reality with a sudden start. Words, more words, much louder, more thunderous than before and booming all around him, yet no matter how he struggles he still can’t comprehend—
Finally, all at once, the world snaps into clear focus. He’s somehow wound up on the floor of his inn room, legs still tangled in the sparse bedding, while a voice shouts from the other side of the closed door.
“—trying to sleep, you hear me! Now shut it, or I’ll shut it for you!”
Even if he had the presence of mind to respond, he would quickly find his throat unable to respond. His heart races, pounding in his chest as though it might burst; he sucks down each breath as though it might be his last as he struggles to coordinate his limbs, push himself upright, scramble on all fours to the satchel he’d so carelessly dropped in the corner of the room...
Despite the trembling of his hands working against him as much as possible, he manages to find it: the round gem hidden away in layers of carefully-wrapped cloth, now polished to a translucent gleam. As soon as the surface of the stone touches his bare skin, a violet light sparks to life at its core, flickering and dancing with erratic intensity — a bolt of lightning, caught in perpetuity in the palm of his hand.
Slowly, as he watches the gem spark away in his hands, his pulse begins to calm. The adrenaline in his veins begins to subside, and he slumps back down to the floor.
Robyn. The sound of his own voice in his head is much smaller than usual, perhaps even smaller than if he were to speak the words aloud, but as long as he can hear it, little else matters. You have a name now, and it’s Robyn. Don’t forget it.
How much of what he had seen was a dream, and how much of it was reality? On the day he had chosen this name for himself, he had also resolved to leave his past behind him — however little of it there was to leave behind — and yet... And yet, for all his efforts to forget, it seems intent on catching up with him.
What could it mean? He doesn’t want to think about it. He doesn’t want to let his thoughts linger on it, and yet...
Robyn. Robyn. Your name is Robyn now.
He clutches the still-sparking gem close to his chest, letting aether course through his hands and into its core and back into his own body in an endless loop, as he repeats the words like a mantra in his mind. And yet, for all his efforts, those same two words manage to rise above all the rest...
Azys Lla. Azys Lla...