>>6084559You stumble, forcing your fellow inquisitor-in-training to grab you then gently lower your form to the ground. You do manage to get a bit of distance from the corpse and body, but there isn't much room to spare down here. It's with a shaky nod and unvoiced understanding that Marie climbs to the bridge above. You try to stay awake while she's away, you really do. Stay vigilant and on guard. A defender of the Stranger's corpse and unconscious changeling, for you know, the Inquisition, the organization that is your escape from the noble world, will have a vested interest in both.
But you just can't.
The next time you wake, you're barely lucid and Strange voices converse with Marie. "Goddess, it looks like a slaughterhouse…"
"The Hells with that guy? Why does he look so strange..?"
"Hey, there's another person here! Wait, is that..?"
From the sounds of armored joints and different voices, it seems Marie ran into an entire squad and convinced them to come down here. It's a shame your vision is too blurry to make out anything but some rather drab colors. You feel as if you've been put in a barrel that was kicked off a waterfall. Why won't the world stop spinning?
"I'm sorry, Miss Adventurer, but this situation is outside the capabilities of your rank. As such, we’ll need to take you into custody for questioning."
"Care to repeat that? I informed you that it was a stranger, correct? This is official Inquisition business, as my other card here states. Please see the two bodies delivered to the Cathedral of the Goddess, posthaste."
"R-right, my apologies, ma'am!"
"Hey, captain, what should we do with her?" Another guard asks, his voice louder than yours.
Marie starts to speak again, but your lucidity fails you, and exhaustion takes you. The next time you awake, your vision isn't as blurry, but it isn't exactly clear. A woman in a dark robe sits on the other side of the furnished but bumpy carriage. The capitol's roads shouldn't be this bad; you must be moving fast. By the looks of her clothing, the robed woman must be employed by the royal court.
"Extreme magic overuse led to a severe mana shortage. Trivial external wounds. Should be in a much worse state than now. Shockingly high chance of survival." The woman rambles to herself, but there doesn't appear to be anyone else in the carriage. AT least anyone else you can see; it's shockingly brutal to move your head at the moment. And the cushion is so, so comfortable. You should rest your eyes for a moment. "Hm, strange energies flowing through the body in place of- mana? No. Blood? No. Life? No-"
