<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/5/59/Seadragon.jpeg) (https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/d/d3/Screenshot_2022-04-02_17.03.27.png)</div><strong>Character Name:</strong><em>Faith Carvalho and Coral (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=341012.msg16145110#msg16145110)</em><br/><strong>Wearing:</strong><em>This (https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/d/d5/Screenshot_2022-04-02_17.03.11.png)</em><br/><strong>Time:</strong><em>9:00 PM June 9th; Night</em><br/><strong>Location:</strong><em>Castle Tree</em><br/><strong>Tagging | Mentioning:</strong><em>Karina, CLOSED</em><br/><hr/>Faith knew the voice that emanated from the dark. It was different now. Lower, if only by a little. She had shared so many nights in tents and under blankets, giggling and laughing with that voice that even the minor changes in timber and tone couldn't hide her identity. Her brow furrowed in the red glow of her cigarette, the shadows forming deep cuts in her otherwise perfect skin.<br/><br/>She thought she had dealt with Karina a long time ago. Pushed her away far enough she could bury that part of her alongside her father. Faith could tell herself she had done it for Karina. That somehow, she had been trying to protect her former friend from the harsh reality that had forced Faith to grow up and leave childhood behind. That burning every bridge and olive branch Karina had extended had somehow been for Karina's own good. She could almost talk herself into believing it too. It was all bullshit. The truth was the games, and stories seemed somehow fake after her dad died. The world didn't feel magical anymore. It was cold and harsh, and hurtful. The magic they had created muted and hollow. The truth was Karina had been the only person for Faith to take out her anger and pain on, and she had. In spades. She rejected magic and fairytales and, in doing so, rejected Karina.<br/><br/>Karina's stubborn and dogged insistence on holding onto their friendship with both hands only made it worse. Faith got mean. At first, she ignored her, and she said hurtful things when that didn't work. She ridiculed their stories and their childish nature, never mind that they were children. She just knew it would hurt and drive them apart, and eventually, it had worked. Karina ignored her eventually, mostly. There were looks from time to time and monosyllabic exchanges when necessary. Still, Faith had succeeded in removing the one piece of her life she felt was holding on to a childhood she no longer wanted. It simply hurt too much to be reminded of happiness when happiness felt like guilt and childhood innocence felt impossible to hold onto anymore. Maybe she had been right to push Karina away, but she hardly did it out of some twisted sense of altruism. She did it because her pain needed an outlet, and it felt good to have someone to hurt when there was no one else around to hurt but herself.<br/><br/>Faith shook her head. It might appear as if she disagreed with Karina's words, but she wasn't. She was shaking in the dark, and it had little to do with the chill air.<br/><br/>She wasn't ready for Karina. Hadn't expected her to be the thing stalking her in the night. Faith would have preferred some monster out of myth to the tall figure that materialized out of the dark. Try as she might to dismiss Karina's words, she couldn't shake them off. Everything felt like it was spinning, like Faith's carefully cultivated control over her life was no longer the bedrock foundation with which she had rebuilt herself.<br/><br/>She felt about as stable as a house of cards and on a wobbly table. Karina was just the person to come along and knock the foundation out from under her and send her cards tumbling to the floor. She reached for the only thing she could. The only thing she had to keep her house from crumbling.<br/><br/>"Then what is the point of magic?" Faith said, the self-derisive laugh escaping her lips dripped with acidity and hopelessness. It would be impossible for Karina to know how accurate she was in her observation, which made it all the more ironic and aggravating.<br/><br/>"There is no Dragon Queen or onyx giant, Karina. There is no magic. I would have thought you would have grown out of that by now." It was not the first time Faith had made that observation between them, but there was something different in her tone. Her words didn't hold the conviction of belief or the blistering venom in them they used to. She tried to recover and focus that well of endless pain inside her for something more biting, but the words never formed. Karina's whispered condolence cut through words. It cut through thoughts. It cut into that well of pain and buried itself into her heart. She opened her mouth once…twice…and clapped it shut. She shook her head again, sending wispy bangs across her face.<br/><br/>"I…I just…I can't..I…." The cards were falling. She tried to catch them all, but they were too many. When she looked up, Karina was closer. Faith took a step<div align="center"></div>back, but there was nowhere to go. The dead tree bark pushed against her back roughly, and she shook her head again, trying to clear the swirling emotions from her head.<br/><br/><em>"You have my sword…."</em><br/><br/>"I…no…just…no," Faith shook her head harder and stumbled away from Karina, anguish on her face. "Why?" Her voice was incredulous…disbelieving. They were done. This made no sense. Karina should hate her. "Why," she said again with the same uncomprehending expression. "I…I can't." Faith held up her hands and waved them as if she was trying to wave away the phantom. She turned from Karina, from the castle tree, and she fled, leaving Coral behind.<br/><br/><div align="center">~End Scene~</div>