Elliot - [013]

[snapekillsedgar]

Who: Elliot, Leo, Noel, Mami, Vanessa, and whoever else asks to join.
Where: An empty (probably debris filled) field in Espoir
Style: Either
Status: Semi-closed
Notes: This event contains spoilers of epic proportions for Pandora Hearts. If you want to join in, just contact one of us.

Comments

[unsureazure]

Noel was no good in the rebuilding department, and when it was daylight, she took to chasing off any looters that were taking advantage of the flood's aftermath. She was in the middle of scouting for these offenders, when she noticed two people---one whom she recognized as Leo and the other an unknown younger girl---hunched over a third person on the ground. Of course, that was hard to ignore, so she came closer to investigate...

What Noel saw was something she wasn't prepared for. She didn't expect to see him again so soon. Especially not like this. Even though the girl was performing what seemed similar to what Noel knew as Healing Ars, it didn't keep her from being stunned by the scene. Though they were slowly closing up, those wounds looked severe, and the blood... all that blood... This was more of a nightmare to Noel than all these destructive events, and even those dreams of herself being killed.

"E... El..." Taking her place with the others, Noel quickly fell to her knees next to Elliot, far too shocked to speak properly. Like a broken record, three words ran through her mind over and over again: Please don't die.

[disruptstatice]

Sorry, Elliot said. Sorry? Sorry?! What kind of thing was that to--? He wasn't the one who should apologise, for anything, because this was all Leo's fault. Not Elliot's, his.

All his fault.

And Elliot knew that so why was he apologising?! And Leo would have told Elliot what an idiot he was for saying such a thing, except... he got caught up in staring as those wounds began to close. Close, they were closing. Did that... that had to mean Elliot would live, it had to.

Right?

He barely even noticed Noel showing up as well (right, her), because that wasn't important right now.

[snapekillsedgar]

He was on the verge of falling unconscious before he was pulled back by the feeling of wounds knitting themselves back together. He grimaced at the strange sensation, but as the pain slowly ebbed away, he began to feel warmth flowing into his body. Any thought he had about wondering how this girl could possibly have the ability to heal him like this didn't matter to him then. He let out a small sigh at the all too welcome relief from some of the pain.

... So, why did his body still feel so heavy? The injuries were fading, so his life should be saved, but he still felt the overwhelming urge to let go of reality and sleep, just like he had moments before.

Even with his eyes closed, he strained to hear every sound, trying his best to stay aware. He knew someone else had joined them, but this time, the girl barely spoke at all, almost like she was stammering... How did this girl know his name? He couldn't understand why he got the strange sense that he recognized her voice.

[unsureazure]

Even though magic was a common practice in Noel's world... It was almost like a miracle. All of his life-threatening wounds were gone. Sure, he still seemed less that fine, but... He was going to live, right? The cords of fear that constricted her heart loosened, and it was almost as if that unleashed the flow of tears from Noel's eyes. Not the the usual cries of distress, but rather... tears of relief. Elliot was going to live. She can spend time with the closest friend she's had in Somarium again. There was a chance he wouldn't remember her, but... She found that she didn't care. What mattered was that he was here, and that he'll live.

"I... I'll help take care of him!" Noel blurted out between sobs, though whether she directed that to either the girl or Leo was left to anyone's guess. "Even if he might not remember me... I'll always stay by Elliot's side until he gets better!"

She was determined to keep her word regarding that. Finally calming down a bit, she expressed her gratitude to the girl that healed him.

"I-I know I just got here, but... Thank you. Thank you so much for saving him."

[disruptstatice]

Leo couldn't really find it in himself to actually say thank you. Even while he wouldn't have believed so just because this stranger said it, he could see for himself that Elliot couldn't possibly be dying anymore. And knowing that, there was no more strength keeping him up.

With another wave of relief washing over him, he found himself slumping, hunching over Elliot's body and sobbing. Idiot, idiot... "You idiot," he got out, strainedly, fingers clenching in his hair.

[snapekillsedgar]

No danger of death.

If he could, Elliot would have first looked completely dumbstruck, and then laughed in relief. Any real hope he had of living had been long since dashed. The fear of death that he didn't want to accept dissipated... But that still left the question, if he wasn't dying, now what was going to happen? He had been so sure that he hadn't thought of what he'd do if he lived. He didn't really want to think about it at the moment either.

There was that girl's voice again. He listened to her, still trying to place who she was, and why exactly she cared so much... It was by the time she said that he might not remember her that his memories finally rushed back. Even through the exhaustion, Elliot forced his eyes open. His vision still wasn't completely clear, but it was clear enough to lock a confused stare right on Noel Vermillion.

It was in that moment that he realized exactly where he was. How he possibly could have forgotten about it was beyond him. He'd spent over two years in this world, and it had only been a few months since he'd been here last.

Somarium... He couldn't tell if he was glad or furious to find that he was back here. When he had last been in this world, he had plenty of unpleasant times, but it didn't always turn out to be so terrible. Unfortunately, this visit to Somarium had far worse implications then the last one. He knew that being healed here didn't heal his real body.

...He put that thought away the moment he realized that Noel wasn't the only one sobbing. Leo was... Damnit. When he had made his choice, he had thought of how Leo would feel about it. He knew how broken he was going to leave him. He nearly apologized again, but realized that even if he did, he couldn't make up for causing this.

"M'not an idiot." He hated how soft his voice sounded, but he couldn't talk otherwise.

[unsureazure]

Noel blinked as Elliot's eyes opened to meet hers. It almost felt like their gazes were locked more than a mere few seconds. She could read the confusion in his eyes. Did he not remember her after all...? What he said neither confirmed nor denied that notion. A thread of doubt painfully tugged at her chest, but she did her best to ignore it. If you keep longing for the past, you'll never be able to go forward into the future. She had taught herself that many times. Noel will need to pay no mind to it. What she needed to focus on now was helping him recover. She raised an arm to wipe her tears with her sleeve. She had to calm down.

"It's fine, thank you," she managed to reply as she turned her attention back to Mami, though her voice was slightly strained from the crying. "I'm currently staying at a camp... We'll manage from here."

Noel's gaze then goes to Leo. She could imagine that he felt the same way she did... Maybe with even more intensity that she had. Should she wait for him to calm down? The sooner they got him to a more suitable place to recover, the better, but... She didn't know if Leo even had the strength to help bring Elliot with them... or even just stand.

"... Shall we go, Leo?" Noel asks him gently, feeling that there was no harm in making sure.

[disruptstatice]

"You are," Leo murmured tearily, and he wanted to tell Elliot just how, every reason he was an idiot.

But there were people here, and Elliot was weak and they had things to do. Even if he ignored the others, he did take notice of things when he heard his own name. Raising his head took way too much strength for his liking, but he managed somehow.

Though he only bothered with nodding, not speaking.

[snapekillsedgar]

... Leo just had to argue about it. Elliot didn't really have the energy to retort. Maybe Leo had every right to think he was an idiot right now, knowing what Elliot's done to him.

Why was that girl asking if they had a camp? What the hell had happened? He was used to this place getting messed up, but never for so long that people had to camp out. Maybe it was luck that he had missed whatever happened, but unfortunately, he didn't know that everyone had been so lucky.

It wasn't the smartest idea, but Elliot wasn't going to keep looking so pathetic if he could help it. He also wanted to get a better look around, to see what they might've been talking about. He shifted, bracing a shaking hand against the ground and trying to push himself up a little... Only to find he could barely get up about an inch before his body gave out on him. He winced as he was reminded that, even if the major wounds were gone, he was still aching all over from what happened to him. As bad as that felt physically, still felt better for trying.

He felt a nagging sense of worry, because he knew that if Noel was still around, his sister was probably still there too. He wanted to reach out to grab Leo's sleeve to get his attention back and ask him about her, but trying to get up took way more out of him then he expected. He almost wished that Vanessa wasn't still around. How was he supposed to face her now? What would happen when she knew that Elliot was the reason why she was here?

[unsureazure]

Noel nodded and watched as they let the girl go on her own way. However, Elliot quickly got her attention as soon as he struggled to sit up... and failed. He's still as stubborn as ever... It was really troublesome... Though she kind of liked that part of him, too.

"E-Elliot, don't do that!" she scolded him, though her voice was filled with concern and worry. "Whether you like it or not, we're going to have to carry you."

How were they going to do this? It was true there were monsters lurking about. Among the three of them, Noel was the most capable of fending them off. But she would need to have her hands free... She didn't know if Leo could manage carrying Elliot by himself. Especially with the state he was in. The troubled frown on her face made it clear that she was pondering very hard about this.

[disruptstatice]

..really, and Elliot denied what Leo said...

Only to go and do something like that. Leo put a hand on his shoulders to make sure he stayed down, though Noel pitched in for the scolding at least.

"Don't tell me you're not an idiot when you do that," Leo said, voice still thick but less so.

But... it was... good? After all, that meant Elliot was acting just like himself and that... was good. Not that Leo had probably expected anything else from him, but it was still a relief, as much as it... wasn't. He couldn't not think of the fact that Elliot was dead back home... which made everything more difficult.

[snapekillsedgar]

Elliot only gave one extremely weak attempt to fight against being held down in protest, and it ended with him getting another twinge of pain, and being unable to budge Leo at all. He had to settle with glaring over at him in frustration. He really didn't need the comments, thank you very much.

At least he was smart enough to realize that what Noel was saying was right even though he wanted to tell her that he wasn't some kid who needed to be carried around. He knew he couldn't sit up if he tried, let alone walk.

[unsureazure]

Really, Elliot. Did he have to make things difficult? Still so stubborn, even at a time like this. Even if he was only gone for a week, the memories Noel was reminded of felt so distant.

"He may be a big idiot, but that's why I like him so much," she comments in attempts to lighten up the mood---Wait, he probably didn't remember her, right? She quickly catches herself. "Er, sorry..."

Right, back to business. Now, how could they arrange this so they could carry him to the campsite efficiently... She could only think of one method, but it a way it felt a bit too inconsiderate. Still, someone had to protect the group from any threats while they made their way back to the tent... At the very least, she should check if this course of action was plausible.

"... Um, Leo, it might be too much to ask this of you, but... Do you think it's possible that you could carry Elliot by yourself?"