Fortune of Harara

WC: 2238/2200

Falling through a caved in floor was on nobody’s bucket list. Nobody wants to be watching a ceremony go down, and then be falling down through levels of floors with hundreds of other people with no prior warning. But… that seemed to be the case for Connie today.

She was here today with her girlfriend, Amorae, and of course her aprico. In the presence of the pharaoh, she wanted to look nicer than usual. She wore a medium length frilly sundress, flowers that matched her accessory tied into her hair, and her butterfly cloak as usual.

Everything was going as planned to start with. The pharaoh appeared, starting to make his grand speech to match his equally grand appearance. That was until the lights started popping out, and a crack spread across the floor of the area. It all happened so fast. The bench that the two satyrs were sitting on were amongst the first ones to fall. There wasn’t much time to think. Before Connie knew it, she was reaching out for Amorae, which had somehow managed to get below her in the fall. She didn’t even think to use her magic. Connie’s butterfly cloak stifled the fall for her somewhat, but by the time she and Ierie had hit the bottom of the cave, they had lost her.

Connie looked around. Glowing crystals jutted out from the floors and some of the looming walls and ceiling. Gears that were interlocked by ancient chains struggled to turn from the addition of the new debris and rubble. There were many statues that looked like…. Bigger, more intricate hylos relics that were strategically placed along the floor of the cavern, seeming to line a path that was no longer there. This place would have looked magnificent if it was being looked upon without any of the rubble and debris. 

She shook her head. Now wasn’t the time to explore, as much as she wanted to. Connie needed to find her girlfriend. Draping her aprico around her neck somewhat boa style, she delicately tiptoed through the fallen rocks, calling out to Amorae.

“AMORAE!!!” She shouted.
Her voice fell flat from the rocks nearby. She needed to find a better area to shout from. 

Connie looked around again, seeing a large piece of what used to be the floor jutting out diagonally from piles of other architecture around it. She quickly scaled her way up it and looked around to see if she could spot Amorae before calling out to her again.

“AMORAE!!!!!!!” Connie screamed this time. In times like this, she wished she had speech magic so she could amplify her voice to spread across the entire cave. She just had to make due.

It was hard to focus over the voice of the king, and the thief he was so desperately focused on. Oh, boo hoo, someone lost their grand prize. Why was that his first priority rather than the people who could have been seriously injured? That didn’t matter. Connie looked back over to him just for a moment, seeing him standing on another rather tall rock several yards away. Some other birds and satyrs (and even kitbulls) were scrambling to climb up to him, and for the splittest of seconds, Connie thought of joining them. She flicked herself in the face when that thought entered her mind though. Not only was the thief making a break for it, swiftly jumping up higher pieces of fallen rock, but Connie had other priorities. She watched as he somehow managed to avoid tripping over any rock beneath his hooves, ducking and dodging any weapon that was sent his way. A kitbull managed to cling to his head, temporarily making him falter and wobble, but after a moment, he was able to throw them off. The grand prize was stashed away in his bag, but the glow it radiated shone through, letting anyone in the nearby area know that he was still in possession of it. Maybe after she had made sure Amorae was alright, she’d go after him… if he was 1) still around, and 2) not being taken care of by someone who got to him faster.

Her attention was torn away from the thief again when she heard the familiar sound of her girlfriend. Her head snapped in the direction, and she saw her. Amorae was lying face up on a flat-ish rock, arms spread out to her side and head painfully craned up to try and get a good look at Connie. Connie’s heart sank.

“AMORAE!” She screeched, carefully but hastily making her way through the rubble so she wouldn’t trip over anything herself. Connie scrambled over to Amorae, getting on her knees and looking over her body.

“Oh God, are you okay? Did you break anything, where does it hurt?” Connie panicked, inspecting Amorae’s arms and legs and face.

It was clear Amor was trying to speak, but her words seemed to not be able to get past her lips. Her eyes darted spastically around Connie’s face before they closed. 

“Amor? AMOR?” Connie asked, holding her face. She put her ear next to Amor’s mouth and her heart. She felt a rush of relief when she felt that Amor was still breathing, and her heart was still beating. Good.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t the one who specialized in blood or bone magic. She wished Salem was here. Amorae likely just broke some bones and got knocked unconscious from the pain. Connie could work with this. As long as she was just injured and nothing more, she would be fine. ...Probably.

Connie leaned down to pick her up in a somewhat pseudo bridal style position. As she gently placed a hand behind Amor’s head, Ierie made a little chirping noise, pointing down to the place Amor was just laying. 

“W.. What is it?” Connie asked, feeling Ierie crawl down her arm and to her feet. With her nose, she nudged a few small pebbles away, revealing what looked like a shiny black artifact. Connie cocked her head to the side. A few minutes later, and Ierie had dug up a small black cat figurine with a raised right paw. Underneath its left paw was a small piece of fake stargold, and the cat itself wore a thick golden collar with blue charms and red tassels.

Ierie held it by the tail in her mouth. Connie sighed and rolled her eyes, but she’d let her pet keep this find this time around. Maybe it could come in handy later on, who knows. She managed to crawl back up around Connie’s neck with some difficulty, but once she was, Connie was on the move again. Amorae was heavy, but the desire and need to get out of this caved in city was stronger. 

Connie looked up. It was a long way to the top, but she would be able to do it. Rock magic would have been much more conducive to making a path she could walk up and get Amorae to safety in, but all she had at her disposal was fire and water. Water would likely be easier to work with in this situation, she decided.

With some focus, and some subtle movements of her head, she made a small disc of magical water that she stepped one hoof on. She hoisted herself and her girlfriend up, and as she was about to take another step, another disc of water appeared. Every so often, as she gained elevation, she would take a jump and try to fly up a few feet using her cloak, landing on another small water platform. Using this method, she made her way up to one of the higher levels. She needed a break.

Nobody else except for a hiros browbird or two was here. Perfect.

Connie set down Amorae on some flat rock, checking her vitals again. She was still breathing, and her heart was still beating. That’s exactly what she wanted. She’d be back up and working her way up again, but in the meantime, she wanted to see what Ierie had gotten.

“Here, give,” She said, holding out her hand. Ierie frowned, but dropped it at Connie’s feet. Connie was sitting cross legged now, and took the cat statue that was placed in front of her.

“How peculiar…” Connie commented, mostly to herself. She turned the statue around in her hands, looking at all the intricately carved details and paint strokes. The craftsmanship was incredible, and the more she looked at it, the more surprised she was that Ierie managed to spot it. She never would have noticed it herself. 

Setting it off to the side, she reached out for Ierie, who happily plopped her way over to Connie’s lap. Connie picked her up longcat style and kissed her on the nose.

“Good girl! You’re such a good girl, yes you are! This is why I bring you everywhere, yes it is!” She babytalked her pet. Ierie blinked at her but nuzzled her head into Connie’s face in reciprocation.

After a few minutes of Connie relaxing, she put the lucky kettlecat in her bag and draped Ierie around her neck again. She picked up Amorae once more and continued her journey up the cave in.

Step, step, step, cape. Step, step step, cape. This repeated until she was up another level, in which she took another breather. The physical exhaustion of walking up stairs you have to focus on keeping up while also holding a whole person in your arms was getting to her, but she needed to persist. Connie did this for as many levels as she could muster, until she finally managed to make that very last step at the top of the hole.

Letting out a long wheeze of exhaustion, she looked around to see if she could find somewhere to set Amorae down at while she caught her breath. Spying a nearby bench, Connie hobbled over and placed Amor down on it. Being on her knees, she crossed her arms in front of her face and leaned forward. She was sweating profusely, but she was just glad to have gotten out of there. In any other circumstance she might have tried to help the other people that had fallen, but her main priority was her girlfriend- ESPECIALLY since she had gotten knocked unconscious.

Ierie had crawled down off of Connie’s neck and shoulders, playing with a small rock nearby by pushing it around with her nose and dainty hooves. Connie glanced over at her and let out a breathy laugh. She needed to get out of this area, though, because at any moment, more of the floor could fall in. Letting out yet another shaky sigh, she wobbled back onto her feet. She felt light headed. 

“Fuck…” Connie groaned to herself. She looked down at Amorae. Her arms felt shaky, and she didn’t know if she was going to be able to carry her back to somewhere that wasn’t structurally compromised. 

“Guess I don’t exactly have a choice now, do I…” She mumbled. She leaned down to pick up Amorae again. Her arms felt like they were on fire. Connie didn’t participate in the test of strength game, but she was pretty sure this was it. If she was able to get Amor out of here, she wouldn’t need to work out for another week. 

With all the willpower she had left in her body, she walked Amorae and Ierie out of the area. She flinched when the eclipsed sun beamed down on her as she walked out. 

“Not making this any harder on me, are ya…” Connie grumbled, to nobody in particular. In this moment she realized that she had no idea where anyone else in her party was. She thought that maybe they were still in the Brouhaha, but they had to have evacuated in the time she spent escaping. Maybe they went off to another hotel? But how would she know which one? Her mind was swimming with all the things she was probably thinking too hard about. 

So, she started walking to the place she felt most comfortable at. The beach. Not only was there warm sand she could use to relax Amorae’s muscles with her fire magic, but she could easily pull some ocean water out of the waves and purify that so she could drink it and use it to heal any cuts or scrapes Amor had gotten from the outside. Luckily, the beach was just a few minutes walk. Unluckily, that felt like ages to a sore, achey Connie.

Once she got there, she set Amorae down on the sand for the last time. She saw an umbrella that didn’t have anyone under it, and thought that she needed it more. Connie grabbed it and brought it over to where Amor was lying, jabbing it into the sand so they had some shade covering them. Ierie was flopping towards the water for a quick swim as Connie brought over a blob of seawater for herself. Quickly focusing to purify it to the best of her ability, she brought it to her lips and took a sip. She ended up drinking most of it, and what she didn’t finish she let settle in the sand below her.

All she could do now is wait for her party to find her, and take care of Amorae to the best of her ability.