Next, Elara had tried, once again, to speak to the two tower magicians.
Having mulled over her two failed attempts, the girl had arrived at a conclusion; the distortion's defensive behavior had only been triggered when she'd outright mentioned it being a distortion.
And if that was indeed so, all she had to do was be more careful with her words. Perhaps then, the message she wanted to convey would manage to successfully take root in the mind of the listener, and somehow linger without getting overwritten or erased by a warp.
Asking around to confirm their location, Elara had headed straight to the room they'd been given. Once again, she'd been very conscious of the thud-thudding of her feet. This time, however, the girl had done her best to not appear rushed or distraught. She hadn't known if the distorted dream would pick up on it somehow. Regardless, she hadn't wanted to risk it.
Pausing before the shut door, Elara had smoothed down her dress, then taken in a deep breath.
Please work.
Then, she had knocked loudly on the door.
'Excuse me? There's something I'd like to talk to you about, sirs. May I please enter?'
The older tower magician – Rin – had answered the door. Siel had been sitting nearby with a small frown on his face as he looked at her.
After exchanging pleasantries and before taking her own seat, Elara had noticed that Rin had left the door to the room open, with the stopper pushed down. And though she'd been well aware that he'd done it out of basic politeness, she couldn't risk having someone overhear and somehow trigger the distortion before she'd managed to say her piece.
'Would you… would you please shut the door, sir Rin?' she'd asked.
Elara had expected the two men to express discomfort at her request, or even rebuke her for asking them to do something like that. However, Siel had only asked once to confirm what she'd said, and Rin had merely raised an eyebrow before acquiescing.
Perhaps they hailed from a tower in one of the more open-minded cities, nearer to the capital.
Well, good for them if they did.
Over the course of the next few minutes, Elara had done her best to convey to them the simple fact, that they were all still asleep and being tricked by the –
'- curse, or whatever it may be. Most definitely not those destroyed flowers, I can assure you,' the girl had shrugged.
She'd decided that misleading with her words might prevent the distortion from picking up on the fact that they were talking about it.
Did distortions even have consciousnesses? She didn't know.
But the tower magicians might.
Even though the phenomenon itself was so rare that most people only spoke of it as something from tall tales – a sort of 'I knew of a sister-of-a-friend-of-an-uncle's-distant-tool-supplier's-third-wife's-second-husband who'd seen that happen once' – there remained the risk of them saying it out loud and triggering another warp.
Besides, the girl had been confident that even with her leading them astray, the men before her would arrive at the correct conclusion eventually.
And as for why she'd felt that way...?
Desperation. Most certainly.
And as she'd hoped, the entirety of the conversation had gone smoothly, with no swirling-whirling nonsense pulling away her rapt audience of two.
The one thing that had surprised her, however, was that the reticent Rin had been the one to nod along and encourage her account. Siel, most unexpectedly, had simply looked at her, a small frown still playing on his face.
'Why do you keep looking at me that way, sir Siel?' The girl had finally asked.
The younger magician had pursed his lips, staring at her for a moment longer before tearing his gaze away.
'Lady Elara… the source of the curse is you,' he'd said.
Elara had jolted at his words.
He'd known all along? And since sir Rin hadn't expressed any surprise… had he known too?
Elara had taken turns to look at both of the men who sat before her.
'We've only just discovered it ourselves,' Siel had seemingly answered her unsaid thoughts.
'All that means is that, out in the real world, you might have the cursed object upon your being,' Rin had offered quietly. 'Could you, perhaps, tell us anything of it? Anything you know, anything you might remember.'
She could… she could tell them so much more, but…
And the girl had burst into tears.
'Oh – oh no! Wait, lady Elara, what -?'
She could hear Siel panicking in front of her. Rin, too seemed to be out of his depth for the first time since she'd seen him.
'We – we didn't mean to imply the blame was on you,' he'd said, his voice a little higher than it usually was. It hadn't made too much of a difference, considering it, even then, remained deep. 'Lady Elara, we are grateful that you've come to inform us of this.'
Face hidden in the palms of her hand, Elara had only shaken her head.
She didn't care even if they did blame her – not when this had all been her fault anyway.
No, she was just glad… so, so terribly glad, to have people other than her, who finally knew!
'Lady… please. What can we do…?' Siel's voice had still had an almost comically alarmed note as the younger magician had tried consoling her.
Elara had just shaken her head again.
'My apologies,' she'd said thickly. 'I do not have any memories that point to something in particular, that might be the host of such a curse. Neither do I possess any knowledge of such things. That is why I've sought you out.'
Face still in her hand, the girl had continued, 'I understand that the two of you must consult with one another, to discuss all the possibilities. Of course, I shall be here to offer assistance, should you need it.'
…
'We don't blame him! We don't blame your father at all, lady Elara!'
…huh? Father?
'I was merely explaining why our exchange did not include any talk of the celebration!'
Celebration? What?
Slowly, the girl had raised her head to look at the two men once again.
Siel was the one who'd been speaking, looking at her worriedly, while Rin… now stood by the door. The door which was open, with the stopper kicked down to hold it in place.
Oh.
…
They'd forgotten again.
Eyes dull, Elara had sighed to herself. Then, she'd whispered, 'I see.'
Then, she jumped to her feet. 'Well, I have something I must say to my father, so I shall take my leave now.'
Don't cry. Don't cry. It will not help.
'Thank you for entertaining my questions,' the girl had said as quickly as she could without stumbling over her words and into incoherency.
And then, with yet another failure under her belt, she'd left the tower magicians' company.