twave — Roleplayer Guild

@hatakekuro@Silver Fox@CirusArvennicus@liferusher

Ariel - Crocus

While Ariel had been directly told not to go off on her own the thought to be wary slipped her mind. Crocus was a big city, much larger than any other one she'd been to and the spectacle of it all distracted her scattered mind. The others were occupied and when they looked away the woman with wings managed to disappear in the crowd. What would make it harder for them to find her is after traversing a few blocks she took to the air to get a better view and be free from all the people. Still she stayed below the rooftops, having some recollection to stay out of sight.

After a few minutes she landed in a less populated area. By now she'd realized that she was lost. But at least she should have less eyes on her right. Walking through the streets she absently began to walk toward something. A strange sense of magic drew her to the door of an apartment. It looked rather run down, probably not on the better side of town. The door appeared ajar and found it to be so. Had she better judgement Ariel probably would have left well enough alone but she stepped to see what the odd sensation was. While she went in several minutes later she had yet to exit.

Nolan - Crocus

After the whole fiasco with the cafe, Nolan had decided to go wander around the city of Crocus for the meantime. Hopefully this time he wouldn't be finding any trouble with anything at the moment. Well, trouble instead was walking along the streets; Ariel was walking through the city when she knew well enough to stay at the hotel. Her magic made it much too dangerous for her to be wandering about the city! "Hey Ariel! What are you doing here?!" Nolan called out to her, but she must've not heard him through the crowds of people. Great, just bloody great! In one way or another, trouble wasn't going to leave him well enough alone. 

Nolan had decided to tail her and hopefully find her when she was distracted enough for him to jump in. He should've done it sooner because she had entered an apartment and even after many minutes she had yet to return. "Troublesome woman." Nolan muttered as he made his way into the home. "Ariel? Hey where are you?" He called out to her.

As Nolan entered the apartment the place looked like no one had been there in a while. It was a quite small space with just a living room and a smaller bedroom in the back. Two things indicated that an artist lived here. The living room was filled with paintings. They were hanging on the wall, sitting on the floor, leaned up against the wall, resting on on an easels, everywhere. The work was actually quite good with great attention to detail. They almost looked real. Seemed the one who made these favored scenes rather than painting people. The other indication was the messy bedroom where remnants of cheap takeout containers. Nothing really in the way of furniture other than a simple mat to sleep so they lived off an artist's salary.

Having had the chance to scope out the place there wasn't really anywhere to hide which made Ariel's absence all the more strange. The windows were still locked from the inside so she didn't exit that way. Eventually Nolan would notice one painting in particular was different. It depicted a cabin at the edge of a lake. Tall evergreens and brush were set in the foreground. The background had lovely snow covered mountains with the setting sun behind them. By the cabin with a simple post fence was a short winding dirt road. What made this painting different was a figure was standing facing away from the viewer. Of course there was no mistaking who it could have been. She was turned slightly so her side was visible but only one person would have deep orange red wings adorned on her back, Ariel.

"What in the fresh hell?" Nolan muttered to himself, completely at a loss with what's going on. Why was their a painting of Ariel in her current form and why did she even come to this apartment. Tired of this stupid game of finding the winged Ariel, Nolan's pupils turned white as he activated his Shaman Magic. If he can see her soul then he could find her...he got a lot more than what he was bargaining for. There were souls in many of the paintings, souls of people trying to break out of the canvas prison. "Holy...what the hell is this place?"

Turning back to the painting of the cabin he saw it; her soul within the painting. "Ariel?! How in the-?!" Nolan stepped closer to the painting, but his foot stepped on an empty paint can on its side. "Wh-whoa!" Nolan yelled out as he fell forward and dived into the painting face first.

Super Collab - Ariel and Nolan Mini-Arc - Isla's Lakeside Painting

Nolan rubbed his face as he stood up, muttering a series of curses until he realized where he was. "....Oh fuck."

"Nolan?" Ariel was standing next to where Nolan just landed. She seemed rather confused as to what was happening. However she was also quite in awe. The scene depicted in the painting was now the world she was standing in. Nolan's sudden appearance brought her back. Without really thinking about Nolan's fear she bent down and helped him to his feet. "What are you doing here? Did you touch the painting too?" Full of questions this one was.

His face flushed red as she got uncomfortably near him as she tried to help him up on his feet. He popped straight to his feet and stood stiffly. It wasn't fear though there was some kind of nervousness due to that damn charm magic that she had casted on him. It's more like I fell into it. Good god, how in the world are we supposed to get out of here? And why were you wandering around the city? You and I both know your magic is too dangerous for that! Nolan grumbled as he looked around. It really was a pretty place though how would he be able to appreciate it if he was trapped?

Looking around with a somewhat stupid expression it was clear that Ariel hadn't thought about how to get back out. The Phoenix magic had done a number on her mentally, at least for the time being. "Uhm...That's a good question." Completely unable to answer the likely rhetorical question she instead fell back on the other question. "Penny told me not to leave the hotel alone so I went with Karn and Trinity to check on the crashed airship thing. I got distracted and lost them." She shrank back slightly because she knew he was right even if she had an excuse. "I don't like this magic."

".....Oh for the love of..." Nolan exhaled heavily, creating a cloud of black ashes accidentally. This Phoenix Magic must've burned her brain cells because holy hell was she ever stupid. It was like talking to a third grade student who got caught doing something that she shouldn't had done. Just how in the hell can they get out of here? There had to be a way! 

He looked up at Ariel with a deadpan expression on his face and said, "Ariel, can't you just change your magic? Isn't that your thing?"  He asked while trying his best not to face palm himself hard enough to give himself brain trauma. Then again, just talking to her in this state is already doing that.

Leaning her head up her eyes flashed with fire behind them. She may be scatterbrained right now but she knew when someone was insulting her intelligence. "I'm not stupid Nolan, I tried that. I just can't think straight. This magic is different. It runs deeper and I haven't adjusted. There's also a lot of it that I haven't been able to get rid of because it would be dangerous to the people around me." With that moment of clarity she turned away and glared at the world around them. They were both probably thinking it, they were in trouble way over their heads and in in her current condition she wasn't much help.

Leaning against the wooden fence, Nolan rolled his eyes at Ariel. You're not stupid, it's just your magic that's making you a ditz. He rubbed his temples as he experienced another mild migrane from the situation he was in. This was just not his week, not one bit. 

Nolan's eyes widened and he turned back to her and said, "Wait, you said that you have a lot of Phoenix Magic in you right? Can't you simply release most of it in an attack so you can gain control again?" If he can get her to enter another magic then perhaps her memories will come back again? Maybe she would be able to help him figure out how to get out of the painting.

Shrugging slightly she kept looking around. "Sure but then I might hurt..." She didn't finish the sentence because it clicked that things were different now. Before she couldn't use up the magic because she was in Crocus where a ton of people where. But here in this painting there was no one but Nolan and herself as far as she knew. "Yeah, let me do that right now. I'll be right back." Spreading her wings she took to the air and headed out over the lake toward the setting sun. She didn't know any specific spells so this was just going to be raw power once unleashed. 

Once she believed she was a reasonable distance away she ignited into a small fireball. It didn't look all that impressive from shore. However after several minutes the ball of fire turned white hot and errupted. The surrounding area heated up like there was a second sun warming the surface. It was brief but intense and the surface of the lake where Ariel had been hovering was roiling as it boiled. Turning back to the cabin Ariel glided most of the way before the magic gave out and she changed to her water magic. Of course that meant her wings disolved into ash and she fell into the water. That wasn't too much of a worry because she was apparently much faster in the water with this magic.

Once Ariel climbed ashore she gave the slightest of smiles before it faded. "Good idea. Okay so, this means that whatever 'world' we're in seems to still follow the rules of the real one. That's good." Despite changing magics the release of the previous still wore her out a bit so she sat down. 

Was the lake boiling? Holy crap it is actually boiling. Did Ariel always have this kind of power or was it the Phoenix Magic? It doesn't really matter since it was absolutely powerful though as far as Nolan knew, Ariel wasn't a very capable fighter. She has incredibly potential to become a monster that even Nolan would admit. Still, where did she get all of this power from? If he had awoken her second origin then she may become even more dangerous. 

Once Ariel was back on the shore, Nolan noticed that she had changed magics and gave him a briefest smile. His face flared up red and he tried his best to look away from her. 
"Yeah, yeah that's good, but um Ariel... Perhaps you could find some dryer clothes" Nolan suggested as he kept his eyes adverted from hers. 

Staring at Nolan she was trying to make sense of the request. Why would she need dryer clothes exactly? Sure they were wet but she was just in the water and couldn't quite pin why it was a problem. "Um... Unless there are some clothes in the cabin this is all I have. Although maybe you hadn't noticed but this is all I ever wear. Magic clothing that my mother made me. Still not entirely sure why it changes with my magic though but it seems to renew each time I change magic." But to appease the request she used her magic to whisk the water away.

Getting to her feet she walked toward Nolan. "Are you alright. Now that I can actually think you're acting weird. More than you usually do around women anyway." She stopped a few feet away and waited for a response. 

His face flushed even further and he stiffened up again as she got closer to him. Did she really not remember what happened between them? Nolan sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his head as he tried to figure out how to ask her. "Um Ariel, do you remember what after I rescued you? You know, um, when I...um...shit, Ariel don't make me say it.  He looked away from her as he began to sweat beads of sweat that were running down his head. 

Noding slightly she did recall what happened. "I remember but that just adds to the weirdness. What's up with you?" Stepping closer she reached her hand up to his forehead. Partly it was to check for a fever but also to see if there was any other influence on the magic side. 

"W-wait don't touch me! His face may as well had been a tomato at this point because it was so red. Just her touch made his sense go wild. Nolan tried to take a step away from her, but a rock underneath his foot rolled away and he fell backwards, his right arm accidentally hooked around her waist as he fell and dragged her down with him too.

Groaning a bit, he raised his head up slightly and rubbed the back of his head. 
"Damn that hurt. Hey Ariel are you-?" Well, this was a bit much; she was right on top of him with his arm around her waist still. 

She wasn't finding anything but Nolan wasn't making it easy. With her patient trying to get away she felt it best not to argue. However her footing was removed when Nolan fell and dragged her down with him. Landing on him Ariel blushed brightly as well. This was awkward to say the least. Getting up close like this did give her the chance to check for magic influences. She found none but was a bit shocked from the situation. "Uh. I uh....not finding and magic designed to affect your behavior."

Oh man this was awkward. She was pressed up against him, her face ever so close to him that he could feel her warm breath against his in the cold air. "I, um, uh..." Nolan's heart was beating faster than he could ever had imagined. His eyes softened slightly as he really admired how pretty she actually was. Hell, that's just putting it lightly. 

Still, he caught himself doing it and sighed in annoyance. He decided that for now it would be best to ignore whatever is going on. "We'll figure it out later. Let's head to the cabin before this world's night comes.

Nodding slightly Ariel got up off of Nolan. She hadn't noticed it until now that it was rather cold out. The Phoenix magic kept her warm before and had actually warmed most of the lake to a comfortable temperature. It went without saying that Nolan had been rather warm as well. Silently she walked over to the cabin and stepped inside. It was a simple place with one large room as the living room, dining room, and kitchen. It had all the basics without any of the modern amenities. On the right from the front door was the entrance to the one bedroom. It was likewise lightly furnished with a single queen sized bed to sleep in. At least it looked warm under the blankets because Ariel was not keen of freezing all night.

She actually rather liked the place. It reminded her of trips she would take with her parents when she was younger. But the thought of her parents reminded her that she was currently in some artificial world with no idea how to get out. Their situation was also further made apparent as her stomach groaned for some food. "Well, let's hope there's something to eat here." Moving back to the main room she opened the cupboard and found some slightly stale bread, dried meat, and half a dozen jars of preserved fruits.Well at least they wouldn't starve right away. But this wouldn't do them if they ended up stuck for very long.

Nolan had followed her into the cabin and while it wasn't exactly pardise, it would suffice as a place for them to stay for the meantime. The only problem was that there was only one bed and he wasn't exactly comfortable with sleeping in the same bed as Ariel. It was already awkward enough as it was and he didn't need it to get even weirder sleeping next to her.  

Sauntering around the room, he found some logs stacked neatly against a wall. He grabbed a few logs and tossed them in the fire place with a few loud thunks. A slight blue shimmer appeared next to him and then formed into Incendio, his fire god slaying sword. With a flick of the wrist a lick of flames jumped from the tip of the sword and onto the logs, setting the wood ablaze. At least they'll be relatively warm. 

"You can take the bed. I'll sleep by the fireplace." He sat down on the cold wooden floor by the fireplace with his back against a wall. There was no way he was going to sleep in the same bed as her. 

"Alright then. I'm going to take a quick look around before going to bed."

Week One

And so began the two's adventure trapped in a painting. For the first day Ariel explored nearby the cabin and found the outhouse, a small rowboat, and a empty plot for a garden. Past that it was natural open land. It didn't take long for them to find that not everything functioned the same as the real world. For instance the sun never moved so the soft yellow and red hues were all that they got. Though perhaps this was the atric circle or something. It did make it hard to tell one day to the next save for an old grandfather clock that told the time.

Another thing they quickly found was there were no animals anywhere. This would have been extremely bad news were it not for two things. The first was that the cupboard seemed to refill every day which was good but got old. The other was Ariel's Green magic which she used to grow plants rapidly in the garden. So thankfully they did get some fresh fruits and vegetables every now and then.

Sleep turned into naps with the constant sun. The cool climate made it comfortable enough most of the time though. For these early days both Nolan and Ariel avoided the elephant in the room and tried to keep their distance. Busying themselves when they could the first exploratory trip was down the road. At first it seemed that things were fairly normal but after a few miles the environment started to look more and more like a painting before it simply ended into a blank white emptyness. So apparently the place they were in was finite. This was found to be true in every other direction they went. 

During the first week Nolan would learn a lot about how each of Ariel's magics were tied to a personality trait. In the guild she always seemed to be random but given a more "normal" kind of environment she changed colors like a mood ring based on how she was feeling. He also could tell that it frustrated her to no end not knowing the cause. A couple times she'd wander outside and cycle through so many emotions until she passed out.

Whenever she passed out, Nolan had picked her up and placed her in the bed until she finally would come to. It's been an odd experience being trapped in the painting with Ariel; she was the only other person besides himself within this world and he was unsure how to interact with her. For the first week, Nolan had practically made it his mission to avoid her to the best of his abilities unless she needed something. Hell, even when it was cold in the cabin he refused to sleep in the bed with her. 

At times Nolan would disappear randomly and whenever he returned, he wouldn't tell her where he had gone. There weren't exactly many places where he could go, but he seemed to had found a way to make himself scarce. 

It looked like the cold was really starting to affect Nolan; he was shivering most of the time and was beginning to have a pale complexion. His health had took a sharp turn as he developed a fever though he tried to keep a strong disposition. He didn't want any help from Ariel. It was just his stupid pride that made him not want to be in debt to anyone. That was until one day in the cabin he looked very dizzy and his steps were unbalanced. 

While Nolan was being stubborn Ariel would go off on her own as well. She suspected thet they both were trying to find a way out on their own and not having much success. She watched as the man's health declined but he refused her assistance. Coming back from yet another fruitless trip she saw him stumbling around. There was a slight pause before she just couldn't let this continue, and also by now Nolan probably couldn't refuse. Her Green magic took front and center and she walked over to him, hooking one of Nolan's arms over her shoulder to keep him up. "Alright Nolan. You need to rest and let me take care of you before kill yourself." Despite any complaints she hauled him over to the bed and made him as comfortable as she could. "Now stay there until I say you can get up. I'm going to make something to help with that fever."

In truth she'd already started growing some medicinal plants. How she knew what they were wasn't something she entirely sure of. But somehow the Green magic had a special connection with nature, plantlife in particular. It was just a shame that the cold and use of the magic to grow things meant she couldn't use it all that much. Even so she made a tea and brought it back for Nolan to drink.

Despite trying to pull himself away from her, albeit weakly, Nolan was dragged to the bed and forced to lay down in the bed. He tried to say something though she had cut him off before he could even attempt to utter anything. He would've gotten up if he wasn't feeling so damn weak and...well, the bed was really quite comfy. This was the most comfortable he had been for the entirety of their stay in the painting. The only thing he had been sleeping on was the wood floor. Not exactly the most comfortable thing in the world. 

With sleepy eyes, he watched her use her Green Magic and summon up some herbs. He didn't even question how she knew what plants to grow; he was just too tired to even care. Nolan sat up when Ariel had brought him tea and with sweaty, shaky palms he held it and blew the tea gently. He took a small sip and his eyes widened to great lengths. Nolan forced it down and gagged slightly before saying,"Oh god it tastes like sweat and spinach."

Ariel knew it wouldn't be a great tasting tea, but there wasn't much she could do about it. She did look slightly revolted by the description. "Sorry. We don't really have that much to improve the taste. The climate here makes it hard to grow a lot of things. Maybe once I've had more practice." She took the cup and sighed a bit. "Now, you just rest. There's not a lot to take care of around here so the best thing you can do is get better. Alright?" This definately was her motherly personality. It was the one Nolan had seen more and more of as his health declined.

His eyes adverted away from her's and sighed heavily. "Sorry Ariel..." He crashed back against the bed and let himself sink the soft bed. Dammit, he didn't want her to take care of him. There were a lot of things to worry about and he didn't want to add to the pile.

Week Two

With Nolan down for a while Ariel took care of everything but finding a way out. She really didn't know where to look anyway and despite the world being finite it was still a large place. They hadn't even attempted going up the mountain on the other side of the lake. Keeping Nolan alive was more important though, the idiot. Over the next several days she babied him much to his chagrin. And even once he was strong enough to fight back he learned of Ariel's Siphon magic, which she used to sap his strength and keep him resting. Ariel was a one woman magic show with something for every occasion it seemed.

Of course Nolan slept a lot and Ariel was sure to knock on the door every time before entering. She did not come in to sleep though which meant that had to have been out on the floor by the fire. However she didn't complain and seemed to be fairing alright despite the uncomfortable circumstances.

Throughout these sick days Nolan was bed ridden against his will. All this time he was worried about what was going on in the outside world. Just how much time had passed since they disappeared? Was time moving faster or slower? Or was it moving along the real world? Was the guild worried about them? Were they looking all over for them? These thoughts frustrated him to no end when he should be trying to get some rest. 

At some point Nolan was awake at the same time Ariel was there, going about her business. In his dazed state he couldn't help, but ask her, "Why did you try and help me? I mean with the whole Charm Magic thing."

"Why? I mean... I thought it would be good if you weren't afraid of women." Squirming a bit she tried hiding a slight blush. Her magic however was no so subtle and she changed to her Charm magic. Standing there silently for a moment she poked two fingers together, acting sheepish. Having pretty much failed in her attempt to hide a feeling she dropped her head and sighed. "And I uh... M-may also have a small crush. I thought maybe if you weren't afraid then I might have a chance." She suddenly dropped back out of her Charm magic and into her Water magic. "Kind of blew blew that one didn't I? I always seem to make things worse. Maybe if I could ever get my magic under control and stop being so unstable."

His pale face flushed into a deep crimson, as if the blood in his body decided to rush to his head. Well, that was sudden! Nolan just sat there completely dumbfounded for what seemed to be  many minutes. What could he say? It's something that he wasn't exactly used to. Hell, he's never even had a girlfriend before. Why me? There are kinder, better men than me in our guild. There are men that aren't afraid of women nor share the burdens that I do. They haven't done the things I've done, seens the horrors I've seen so why me?" Nolan couldn't bring himself to look her in the eyes. His heart was almost beating out of his chest and felt like his throat was drying out in the sun. 

Running her hands through her hair Ariel tried to put her thoughts into words. She seemed to be having as much trouble as Nolan did. "I didn't know that stuff then. Hell I still don't know what you've seen or done. So I have no idea if I would have felt different." Resting a hand on her head she calmed herself down a bit. "My emotions are not like everyone elses. Some of them are really strong and I act differently than I would with another emotion. Like I always feel a little attraction but with the Charm magic it's right out in the open." 

She still hadn't really answered Nolan's question and as she thought about it the Charm magic came back. "I think it started like a lot of your fans. You're handsome, and strong, and mysterious. And a lot of people probably also see you as rough and hard to get along with. But knowing you through the guild I've seen that your courageous, and loyal, and kind even though you don't like to show it. I just... I made a rash decision. I didn't mean to put you through that  But even after that you saved me from that lab in Crocus and I know you've been bringing me back inside when I've passed out here."

Taking a breath she tried to compose herself a bit. Through the explanation she blushed quite a bit and stood awkwardly. Even though the Charm magic was the one that expressed love it was clear that she wasn't blindly lead by it. "I don't know what you've done in the past but who you are now is who I have feelings for. If you don't want that then I will try my best to leave you alone. I'm not hopelessly in love it's just... different for me."

For her entire explanation Nolan had stayed silent with a hard to read deadpan expression. The blush however showed his embarrassment and his eyes weren't even focused on her; he was too embarrassed to even try and look her in the eye. "I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been thinking of you...differently. I just chalked it up as your Charm Magic that's been affecting me...I haven't gotten over my fear of women; I've become used to your presence."

He cleared his throat and turned his gaze towards her's, his shiny black eyes were completely focused on her with a quiet intensity. His palms were sweaty and felt like he was going to throw up at any moment. "I...I really don't want you to leave me alone. Could you come over here...?" His face was lit like a red beacon. Just what the hell was coming out of his mouth?

Ariel had been wringing her hands anticipation some negative response. So far she'd only ever seem to complicate things, particularly with Nolan. However the response was not what she expected. Things had been different, but sometimes it was hard to tell exactly why. If Nolan wasn't... Well... Probably best not to let her hopes get ahead of things. "O-okay." Stepping over she took a seat at the chair she'd moved into the room to tend after Nolan.

Nolan laid his hand on top of hers. It was so soft and warm, so different from the cold steel and the constant assault of destructive magic tearing through his body. It was quiet, really quiet within the room; no words were being exchanged though what could either one of them say right now?

Though the two shared a moment nothing was really resolved. Since Nolan was still recovering Ariel resumed keeping things together while they were still stuck in this weird painting world. This next day didn't make it any less awkward or silent. Neither of them really knew what to say or do next so they just left well enough alone. I'd been several days that Nolan had been resting and he was given permission to get up if he wanted. Laying in bed for a few days always resulted in aches and pains.

Nolan was sitting by the lake pondering on just what had been happening for the past few weeks. They were stuck in a painting and to make things worse, things had been tense between them ever since Ariel confessed her feelings for him and Nolan, well, confessed something to her. He had not said a single word to her all day and had been avoiding her. What was he to do about all of this? 

He groaned in complete annoyance and laid down, ready to pull his hair out in frustration. Just how in the world did he get himself into this kind of situation? Trouble just seemed to come right after him no matter what...Though the more he thought about it, it seemed like he was going to had to face her about this eventually regardless if they were in a painting or not. Should he go talk to her about it?  

Whether he wanted to or not the opportunity presented itself when Ariel called him in for dinner. They hadn't really sat down to eat a meal yes, but there really hadn't been that much to eat. However Ariel had managed to make a something of a bread with the plants she managed to grow. It took a while to make from scratch but eating the same thing for the last tow weeks was getting tiring. Sadly without any yeast it was more like a tough biscuit but beggars can't be choosers. The table was set for them to eat but Ariel didn't expect to get much conversation in. 

Hearing that food was ready to be served, Nolan hopped up to his feet and headed straight for the cabin. He smelled something that was freshly baked, bread though from what he saw it was more like a larger biscuit though it was nice to have something else. "This all looks good." Nolan said in an attempt to make some small talk with her. Anything to break the ice at this point. 

He took the opportunity to serve them their food on their plates and motioned for Ariel to sit down and rest. It was just so damn quiet though...the dead were more active than this. Whatever small talk they made was always left with a heavy silence as they were really just avoiding the real issue hanging over them. 

"Are we okay Ariel?" Nolan had suddenly asked from out of the blue. I don't mean being trapped in the painting...I mean us. A heavy sigh came from his lips as he seemed to had stiffened up like a board.

While they had been eating silently for a while Nolan finally broke the silence addressing the obvious source of tension. Ariel was glad that he brougt it up because she didn't want to be the one to do it. Sighing and visibly relaxing she nodded a bit. For the moment she'd changed to her more reserved Dust magic. "Yeah. It's just really weird." She poked at her food a bit. "I've never been in this position before. After my magic showed up I was either really sad or angry all the time. That kind of pushed a lot of people away. Not until I joined Phoenix Wing had I been able to be more 'normal.' If you can call it normal. It's like trying to piece myself back together. So the fact that I feel anything at all is actually kind of nice." She was looking down at her plate till the end. However she glanced up to guage Nolan's reaction.

"I guess we're in the same boat." He took a sip of water from a glass and sighed, clasping his hands togther. "I've never gave any other thoughts about people and relationships. I thought they would make me weak. I didn't want to be tied down by anyone...The only reason I joined Phoenix Wing was to just earn some money and set up a place to live. I never really intended to become a big part of the guild." He closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "My life was turned all upside down again within a year; my home was destroyed, my teachers slaughtered, my friends decimated. I never wanted to feel loss again."

Nolan opened his eyes and sighed heavily. "Sorry Ariel, I didn't mean to unload that on you." He glanced down at his plate of food and took a bite of tough bread. 

Ariel manager a slight smile. Not at the story but at the last sentence. "Nolan, we're living in a cabin in the freezing cold that's really a painting. We've been here for... She glanced at a wall where she'd been etching in marks to keep track on the days. Almost two weeks. It's been way too quiet for me. I just enjoy hearing your voice right now." She propped her head in her arms against the table. "Maybe it's a bad idea to think about, but if we aren't getting out of here then we're going to have to face that each other may be all we ever have."

After a second she turned a pale blue as her Barrier magic appeared. It wasn't one that came up too often but since arriving here Nolan would know it as Ariel's fear. "I shouldn't think like that. We'll keep looking. I'm just worried. I don't want to be stuck here forever." She covered her facewith her hands to keep herself from falling apart.

Nolan stood up and walked over to her without any words, looking as solemn as ever. "Ariel..." He knelt down and hugged her tightly, pulling her as close to him as he possibly could. Even in the cold she was so warm and soft to the touch, a feeling he isn't used to. It was comforting to feel her this close to him knowing that in this lonely world he would have her with him. 

He laid his forehead against hers and gently stroked her hair slowly. "Come on Ariel, we're gonna get out of here someday. We'll find a way out of here, I know we will. Don't lose heart now...I don't think I can take it." He said softly in the silence, the perpetual dawn leaked into the room. 

At first Ariel just continued to despair but Nolan's embrace slowly turned things around. She put her arms around him tightly as if letting go she would fall away. Comforting didn't quite describe the feeling. She felt safe like this and the encouraging words were like music to her. Nolan had a point though, they would both have to be strong for each other to make it through this. Not quite having a proper emotion for the situation she switched to her Light magic. Finally breaking away she wiped a tear from eye and smiled brightly. "You really are used to me. Before you wouldn't touch me with a ten foot pole." Leaning over she gave him a light kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Nolan. I really needed to hear that." 

He sighed in relief that she had finally calmed down. Seeing her that broken up was impossible for him to bear. His face flushed deeply and if Ariel was paying attention, he had a brief smile on his face. "Your persistence paid off." He ruffled her hair and looked back at the table. "I'll clean up here. You should get some rest. Nolan turned around and had begun to gather the dishes. "Ariel it's really cold here...I think it would be best if we shared the bed. At this rate you're going to end up like me."  Nolan said with his back to her, his was even redder at his suggestion though she wouldn't be able to tell. He had piled up the dishes and took them to a counter where there was a bucket of clean water and a bar of lye soap. 

Ariel barely managed not to gasp out loud from what she just heard. In fact she covered her mouth just to be sure. She flushed red as Nolan must have been and froze for a moment. At a loss for words for a minute she just sat there. "A-are you s-sure? I mean..." Her sentence trailed off. There was no way to continue without sounding like a babbling woman. The bed was a whole lot better than the floor but that seemed like a big step. At the same time though these weren't normal conditions. They were thrown into this scene unprepared and it had already done a number on Nolan. "I guess we could do that. Only other idea is taking turns but that isn't that great of a plan. Wow."

Nolan's eyes twitched and he sighed very heavily. "Ariel, the floor isn't meant to be used as a bed. I got sick from sleeping on it and you had to take care of me. It won't do us any good if you get sick too. Look, let's try and not make this weirder than it already is. We're in a weird enough situation as it is and if sharing a bed with you is the price to stay alive then so be it." He scrubbed the dishes down with a white cloth, piling them up one by one on a wooden rack. 

He turned to look back at her with a slightly pink face and said, "You worked hard on that meal today Ariel. Just go to bed. I'll be in there when I'm..." Nolan turned away from her as his face obviously flared red and stopped his sentence. This was still going to be his biggest hurdle. 

Letting out the breath she was holding she resigned herself to Nolan's suggestion. It would only be as bad as they made it out to be. "Thank you Nolan." She got up from her seat and headed to the little bedroom. To say that she'd missed the bed was an understatement. Getting under the covers she felt just how tired she'd really become. In the few minutes Nolan took to finish the chores she'd already curled up and fallen asleep.

Yawning loudly, Nolan had finished the chores and walked into the bedroom to find that she had already fallen asleep. He smiled softly at her sleeping face and slowly lifted the blankets up and slided in the bed before quickly falling asleep himself. 

Many hours later, Nolan slowly woke up in a half sleep state. He found his arms wrapped around something and held it closely to his body. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he realized that it was Ariel that he was cuddling up to in his sleep. She too had her arms wrapped around him and their faces were just inches away from each other. There was no way he could get out of her hold without waking her up.

For almost ten minutes Nolan was forced to lie there quietly as Ariel continued to sleep. When she finally started to wake up she lightly poked and prodded Nolan's back trying to make sense of what she was holding. Eventually she eyes opened and she stared back at him groggily. "...Nolan? What are you..." She yawned softly, not having woken enough to connect the dots. Thankfully she let go to stretch, having been rather stiff from the nights prior.

Oh thank god she actually let go of him! He used this as a chance to roll out of bed and stretch his arms up in the air, only smelling the sweat from his body. Now that he thought about it, they really haven't showered since they arrived in this world. "Um, I'm gonna go head off to the lake and clean myself up. I'll be right back." He wasn't exactly sure if she heard what he was saying since she just woke up, but he walked out of the small cabin with a large white piece of cloth to use as a towel and left. 

Later, the cold water splashed against his skin as he swam around in the lake. He popped out of the water and shook his hair, spreading droplets everywhere. It felt so good to feel the water against his body. He was able to relax for the first time in awhile since they arrived in the painting. Man, just how were they going to get out of this place? 

Eventually Ariel fully woke up and got up from the bed. That was the best sleep she'd had in days. After that she really couldn't deny use of the bed. They were both responsible adults. Making her way into the living space she glanced around but Nolan wasn't there yet. She remembers hearing him mention something about cleaning up at the lake so she decided to just start breakfast. Sadly it would not be as special as dinner last night but it was something. Thinking about it she should probably wash up as well, though she'd actually been trying to keep up with that out of habit. 

Lately, even in this abysmal situation, Nolan had been a bit more cheerful compared to his usual grim self. Really he shouldn't be since they could be stuck in the painting for the rest of the lives though he was happy. Ariel brightens his day up and even makes him smile though he wouldn't admit it. Jeez, just what in the hell was going on with him? He had been thinking about her differently though what was this change? Even his actions were completely out of character. 

Nolan had stepped out of the lake after bathing and he grabbed the towel and began to dry himself off. He wondered if Ariel had finally woken up. This time he was going to help her cook breakfast. She did it by herself everyday and he didn't want her to do everything. Quickly he dressed himself and rushed back in the cabin. "Hey Ariel, do you need some help?" Nolan asked her as soon as he saw her in the kitchen area. 

Glancing at what she was doing she shrugged a little bit. "Not really. There isn't that much preperation for the meals when there isn't something specific I'm making." That probably wasn't what he wanted to hear. Over the last week in particular she'd built up a routine, albeit a simple one. "I think I want to get back to looking for a way out again. Been a little cooped up you know." Ariel certianly seemed in a better mood than yesterday. Taking their plates she set Nolan's down and took a seat.

"Perhaps we could travel to the mountains when we're more prepared." Nolan suggested as he sat down and had his breakfast as well. His face lit up red as he remembered when Ariel and himself were cuddling in bed. It kind of felt good...though he really hoped that Ariel was too tired to realize what happened. 

Ariel nodded in agreement. "That's what I was thinking. It's the toughest spot to get to. It could take a while." Giving it some thought she frowned slightly. "Maybe our best chance to get there in a reasonable time frame would be for me to use the Phoenix magic. If you can stand that. The cold doesn't really bother me and I could fly us up a good ways. Might take a while before I can use it again." She nibbled on her food absently as she thought aloud.

"I'll do my best to not tear my hair out" Nolan smirked at her and nibbled on his food and thought about her suggestion. "It would be better to save it for emergencies though. That's a very powerful magic and it should be used sparingly. I think my powers will suffice until then. We're going to need to do some preparations until then." He took a sip of water and leaned back in his seat.

Week Three

Having discussed a trip up the mountain the first few days were making sure they would have the provisions needed for the trip up. Nolan made it sound like he would be able to get them a good ways up without much trouble. So it started with some rationing so they would have some food to take up for the trip. In the meantime though they also took several other trips just to be thorough with the surrounding area.

While they didn't have much luck finding anything specific, Ariel did notice that there was some kind of magic the closer to the mountain they got. So they had a destination and a reason to investigate further. 

As the week had gone by, the duo had been acting differently towards one another. The tension of the last two week had melted away for the most part and instead were very comfortable around each other. Nolan seemed to be smiling a bit more whenever he was around her and always was happy to be around Ariel. He wasn't afraid to hold her hand like he was during the first week and they've practically rub arms accidentally and return smiles at each other. Ariel even gave him a few pecks on the cheeks every now and again. 

Today was the day that they would begin their hike up the mountains. Nolan and Ariel were walking by the lake, with Nolan a large makeshift bag on his back with ease. It was going to take awhile for them to get to the top and as ardous as it was going to be, it was the only spot that they haven't checked and Ariel said that she felt some kind of magic the closer they got to the mountain. 

"What time do you figure it is?" He asked Ariel though she probably wouldn't be able to tell either. His perception of time was screwed up after staying here for far too long.

"We've been walking for a couple hours I think. So 10:00am-ish." It really was hard to tell the time without the clock. Looking back they could barely make out the cabin at the edge of the lake. The base of the mountain was coming up and from here it it looked like an even longer trip up than ever. Oh man. This thing just keeps getting bigger." 

Their long hike up the mountain began before too long. Without a map of any kind they would have to work their way up relatively blind. However along with Nolan's magic Ariel also had suggested that she could use her Ice and Earth magic to assist or provide shelter if needed. Thankfully the weather never seemed to change so they didn't have to worry about being snowed out or anything. Didn't make the trek any less of a task though.

Hours later they would feel the miles they've hiked hit them all at once. Even though it was cold up the mountain, Nolan was sweating up a storm and panted from the decrease in oxygen as they slowly made their way up the mountain. "We need to set up camp with whatever energy we have left or we're gonna die." Nolan unslung his backpack and pulled out their makeshift tent and began to set it up. The tent was soon set up and he opened it up for them. "Come on, get in." He told her as he entered. He kicked his snow filled shoes off and laid back on his sleepingbag. "Pass me some jerky will ya?" 

Ariel was feeling the fatigue as well, although perhaps not quite as much thanks to not having as large a load and having lived in a high elevation most of her life. Nothing this extreme but it helped that mountains surrounded the town. She had taken hikes up them before but there were set paths. When the tent was ready she climbed in as well and loosed as much snow as she could. "One second." Her "pack" was more the bedding carefully folded to hold their items. But now it would serve its usual purpose and keep them from freezing to death which was all the more possible now that there was nothing to stop the cold wind. She handed him some of the jerky they brought and settled down next to him. We're making good time I think. I can definitely tell that the magic is stronger the higher we go. I'm surprised I never noticed it before."

Emptying the rest of the items she was carrying she pulled the bedding over them and cuddled up next to Nolan. By now this had become less of a necessity and and something that they just did. Hell, even enjoyed. Had anyone ever told her that she could get this close to Nolan without killing him she wouldn't have believed it.

Nolan chomped down on the small ration of jerkey relatively quickly. All of that hiking made him so hungry and while he wished they had food other than jerkey, it was enough for him. "It was only recently that we've gotten closer to the mountain. It isn't that surprising" 

Ariel had placed the rest of the items down and pulled the bedding over them just so that they should snuggle. Nolan smiled and wrapped his arms around her to pull her in a little closer. "Call me crazy, but if we do get out of here I'm gonna miss this." He rested his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. "Just the two of us...so close....so warm. I really don't want it to end." He sighed, a cloud of cold air whisped from his mouth. "I need you Ariel." He muttered softly, his cheeks blushed slightly.

Blushing slightly as well Ariel gave him a light kiss. "Need me? That's a big leap from when we got here." Leaning a bit closer so she could whisper in his ear. "I need you too Nolan." Laying back again she giggles slightly. She was being silly right now. On a slightly more serious tone she did consider what leaving meant. "I think I'll miss this too. But I'd rather everyone know where we've been this whole time and about us. You know? This is the start of something and I'd like our friends to be a part of it."

Another through came to mind and she smiled. "If we find a reliable way out we could also take the painting with us and revisit every now and then. Maybe a little better prepared. Assuming it works anyway." She pondered it a bit longer before taking a deep breath and resting her head. She was worn out and sleep sounded good right about now.

He smiled from her kiss and laid back with her, feeling nice and warm with her. There was something thrilling about being told that she needed him too. She talked about leaving the painting and being out there in the real world together with their friends. Oh boy, now that was going to be a shocker for a lot of people. Who would've guessed that the guy who would foam at the mouth with almost every interaction he had with a woman would actually have a girlfriend? 

Nolan wrapped his arms around her waist and softly kissed her neck, blushing more as he kept getting bolder with her. "Get some sleep Ariel. We have long day tomorrow." He nuzzed his head into her shoulder, closing his eyes as he felt very content right now. 

Sleeping well through the "night" the peace was interrupted by Ariel waking up and cringing slightly. By now she recognized the feeling as the onset of a new magic. They weren't all so unpleasent but it really varied from one to another. Guess she had gotten close enough to whatever the source was for a long enough time to pick it up. But it was only just enough which meant a slower time for her magic ability to adopt it. "Nolan, wake up. She spoke softly, having learned by now that it didn't take much to wake Nolan. She was the heavy sleeper in the relationship.

Scooting out of bed the cold air was less of a bother than it usually was. Man she hated how her magic worked sometimes. Couldn't it have waited for them to get to the top at least? While for the most part she'd yet to change appearance her eyes occasionally flickered various colors.

Being stirred awake by Ariel, Nolan yawned and slowly sat up as he watched her scoot out of the bed. What was going on that she had to wake him up? He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stretched his arms up into the air. "Ariel? What's going on?" He grabbed some jerky and munched on it slowly as he waited for an answer from her. Nolan had noticed that his hair had grown out a little bit as well as Ariel's hair. He hadn't really noticed it until it was starting to go past his eyes slightly.

Shutting her eyes tight for a moment she shook her head. Eventually she turned to look at Nolan. "That magic is getting to me sooner than I thought it would. It feels strange, like I've felt it before but I don't really remember when." Her eyes flickered again and she closed them after a few seconds. "I can't tell what it is yet though so I'm not really sure what to expect. If we keep going we'll know sooner but if we stay or go back then we have to wait and see." She seemed a bit conflicted. She really didn't want to be the reason to halt their attempt at getting out of here.

Nolan closed his eyes as he listened to her and chew on his jerkey. He opened his eyes and saw her eyes flickering multiple different colors. What kind of magic was she absorbing? It could be dangerous if she can't control it though they were so close that they could escape the painting in a few more days. He sighed and said, "It makes no sense to leave the mountain now. We need to keep going. We need to go home."

Resolving to stay strong she nodded. Really, where did she feel this before? It had to have been before entering the painting because she never recalled it afterward. "You're right. We need to keep going. It usually turns out well enough anyway." Well, they were up already so she started to gather up things. At least it felt they'd gotten the usual amount of sleep.

With the goal in mind they packed up camp and comtinued to make their way up. The mountain was starting to get pretty steep so progress slowed a bit. It was to be expected though and they pressed on. Thankfully Ariel seemed stable for most of the time, only stopping once because of the new magic.

As they hiked their way up the mountain, Nolan held her hand for the entire time through the snow. Thankfully Ariel was stable for the most part with the new magic she was absorbing though this would be the least of their worries now. There was a loud crack that roared in mountain, small bits of snow had begun to roll down the mountain followed by a deep rumbling. 

"Oh no..." He looked up at the mountain to confirm his worst fears; an avalanche was tearing through the mountain. Nolan had let go of Ariel's hand and pushed her behind him. A powerful fluxation of magic erupted from his body, creating ink black ashes that torrented around him in erratic movements. "Black Dharma: Oblivion Buster! " His eyes were just orbs of glowing dark green magic with his pupils being pure white. The ashes had concentrated on his palm, forming a compact sphere of ashes that was shot off at a high speed at the avalanche. 

Once it hit the avalanche, a massive eruption of pure black swallowed the white snow and pure heat radiated from it. Even the snow around them seemed to had been melting from the attack. Soon, only black snow was falling down now and Nolan sat down, exhaling his held breath. If Ariel was still looking where the attack had landed, she would've noticed how absurdly huge the crater was. 

Once Ariel realized what wad happening Nolan was already acting. He'd pointed his magic at the oncoming wall of snow and obliterated it in seconds. Covering her head Ariel missed the impact but eventually looked up to see the aftermath. Bits of ashen show were floating down gently as there wa nothing left. On the one hand it seems like a little overkill. On the other it worked so she couldn't really complain. "...Well, that worked I guess." she glanced around at the remaining mountain. Maybe I should be a little better prepared with Ice or Barrier magic just in case. Not sure if they're strong enough to stop something like that yet though."

Nolan stood up and cracked his neck. "I guess I overreacted a little..." He chuckled softly and held her hand again. The only reason he went overboard was because he was afraid that Ariel was going to get hurt or worse. Anyway, he was glad to see that she was okay for the meantime. "Come on Ariel, let's hike a little more and we'll call it a day." He had begun to lead her by the hand up the mountain, hoping that they would get out of the painting soon.

"Sounds good." She followed along keeping a hold of Nolan's hand as they ascended higher. Hours seemed forever and at times it was hard to tell if they were making much progress. Thankfully because of the previous slide it wasn't likely that they would see another one any time soon. Coming to the end of their day they set up camp once again. This time Ariel making a shallow cave in the mountain side so they had a little more room with her Earth magic. Plopping down and unpacking their things again she glanced at Nolan. "You think Marlene might try and murder me again when we get back?"

"Marlene has a thing for me?" Nolan arched his eyebrows in surprise at the revelation. How in the hell didn't he notice that? Then again he didn't notice that Ariel had a crush on him before so it wasn't that surprising. It did make sense now thinking back to when she attacked Ariel when Nolan kissed her in his charmed state. He shrugged and said, "We'll deal with it when the time comes." Nolan rolled on top of Ariel, his face flushed red as he kept making progress with his shyness. "I won't let anything happen to you." Slowly he leaned down and kissed Ariel, this time with him instigating it for the second time since their first kiss when he was charmed by her. 

It was a long kiss, not one of the small brief ones that Ariel had been giving him throughout the week. When he finally pulled away, his face was glowing red and panted slightly. "You're really beautiful, you know that right?" He stroked her hair gently.

Having just put things off to the side, Nolan surprised Ariel by rolling over her. She had a slightly shocked exression for a moment before asking, "Nolan, what... She barely had the chance to start before he kissed her. It took a moment before she accepted it and put her hands against his chest. She changed to her Charm magic again and held the kiss until Nolan ended it. He looked and acted different. She'd never seen this side before, even when he was charmed. Blushing she gave him a nudge with her hands. "Are you sure you aren't charmed? Because I swear you're acting worse than before.". She couldn't help but smile.

His eyes averted away from hers shyly from her words and frowned in an unknowingly cute manner. "It's gotten worse because of you." Nolan's face flushed heavily and he started to smile softly again. He lowered himself down and kissed her neck softly. "I love you Ariel. I really love you." He whispered in her ear and kissed up her neck up to her cheek and then to her lips.

Ariel wasn't used to being on the receiving end of this affection. Not that she didn't like it but it was kind of strange coming from Nolan. After a few moments of letting him kiss her she reached up and gently held his face in her hands. Having quite literally grabbed his attention she gaving him another kiss. "Now now handsome. Don't move too quickly." Her heart was almost beating out of her chest at that moment and the emotion she was feeling was almost overwhelming. However she knew that she could get carried away if she didn't keep it in check. "Once we get out of here we're going to have to visit my parents so I can introduce you." She hated to change the subject but it seemed like a good way to divert things.

Nolan's face had remained flush though his eyes widened when he realized how carried away that he had gotten. He sat up and pushed his hair out of his face. "Sorry, I don't know what got over me." It was obvious that he was way too embarrassed to even look at her. Normally he was the one with self-control and kept his emotions from leaking out though it all just came out in one big burst. If she could read his mind, she would be able to known how badly he was scolding himself for getting so carried away like that. 

His eyes widened and his thoughts went blank when she mentioned her parents. Inside he was now starting to panic like crazy as he tried to calm himself down. "Y-yeah, parents. I should definitely meet your parents..." He looked down at the floor of the cave and sighed heavily. "Why do I get the feeling that they're not going to like me?"

Sitting up she shrugged a little bit. "I don't know why you keep saying that. I mean, sure they aren't the biggest fan of mages but they let me find a guild. They just want me to be safe. I'll just tell them you blew up the side of a mountain to save me." She smiled toying with him. She scooched closer and put her head on his shoulder. "Really, you shouldn't worry about that. They'll love you." 

Nolan smiled at her and gently kissed her head. "Let's get some sleep." He said as he pulled the blanket over them, holding her close to him as they laid down. He slept happily with her in his arms.

Having been pretty well exhausted she fell asleep pretty quickly like Nolan. It was going to be odd adjusting to not having him around like this. She assumed at least that they wouldn't have the same opportunity anyway. Here no one cared one way or another and they kept each other safe and warm.

Week Four

Having started their trek upward near the end of the previous week the journey ended up bleeding into the next. They were making good progress but after four days there was still probably two or three more to go. Ariel was beginning to feel the effects of the magic and rather than just her eyes her hair and clothes were changing sporadically. However her personality wasn't changing with it, much to both their relief. Ariel could be a little unpredictable at times and rapid emotional shifts caused her to pass out. 

Finally Ariel couldn't go on and she dropped to her knees. "Alright. We have to stop and wait for this magic to settle in. Ugh, it feels so weird." Letting go of Nolan's hand she placed her hands against the snow and she turned as white as it. Blinking for a moment she removed her hands and returned to the soft yellow of before. "What the heck?" Reaching for an open patch of rock she turned a dark gray before letting go of that. What the hell is... oh... She slumped over into the snow before she could finish.

"Ariel!" Nolan yelled out as she slimped into the snow. He picked her up and soon propped her up against a wall. Then he slipped off his hoodie and put it on her to make sure that she is warm and then was able to place her on his back. With his Shaman Magic, he was able to hold her on his back with spirit arms and soon set up the tent as fast as he could. 

He bundled her up in the tent with the blanket and just sat there, hoping that she was going to be okay. At times like these he hated how useless he was. All that he could do was make her as comfortable as possible until she came to. 

Sighing, he went outside and was able to start a fire and able to heat up a soup that they had prepared before hand. He brought it inside for her and waited for her to wake up. 

When he reentered the colors of the things around her almost appeared to be melting onto her clothing and hair. Everything but Nolan's hoodie. But everything else that was part of the painting world was. The colors were slowly swirling around but not quite mixing when they touched her. Sadly try as he might Nolan couldn't get it to stop. Most of what they had was from the painting, including the ground they were sitting on. It would be a couple hours before she came to as as she did the colors set in an nonuniform pattern, mostly a mix of gray, white, and brown.  Dazed Ariel blinked. Her eyes were a wild with color arranged like a color wheel  She didn't say anything but just looked around.

Nolan had fallen asleep at some point, shivering from the cold without the hoody. There was a bowl of now cold soup next to him that had been there for quite some time. Nolan looked tired, like really tired. It was as if he was fretting over her to the point of exhaustion. 

Coming to her senses Ariel managed to crawl her way over to Nolan and drag the sheets over. He was going to freeze like this. What was he thinking? Draping them over him she could feel how cold he was up close. At this point she hadn't even noticed that anything had really changed about herself. Sure things looked odd but that could just be her being extremely tired or some other side effect of the magic. 

Speaking of the magic the floor seemed to be sticking to her. Lifting an arm the ground under them had turned into paint. What was going on here? It was then that she finally noticed the odd colors on her that started moving again and changing. "What the... What's happ..." The paint began to move and enveloped her while she was speaking. It created a bubble that moved over and stuck to the wall. Being in a world made of the same Paint magic she was gaining caused the environment around her to react and grab her.

Stirring from the sudden noise going on in the tent, Nolan woke up to a startling sight; a massive bubble made of paint had enveloped Ariel completely and was getting bigger. She was trapped! "Ariel! Hold on, I'll save you!" Nolan summoned two swords, Hermes and Balmung and swung the blades to pop the bubble though it was in vain. The paint just sealed the bubble again! 

Gritting his teeth, he begun to swing his blades faster and faster, tearing through the paint faster than it could put itself together again. Soon he made it towards Ariel and he threw a blade past her, landing in the snow. He grabbed her with his free hand and the two of them teleported to the sword he had thrown. "What in the hell is going on? Why is the world attacking her?!"

More tendrils of paint leaped towards her though Nolan wasn't going to give them the chance. "Fuck off!" He roared, sending a tumult of ashes at the paint and tore through the tendrils.

Coughing as she was pulled from the paint she went limp although she was still awake. The colors of her hair and clothes were shifting and changing as the magic tried to take hold. Nolan was fighting off the mountain it seemed. Mustering up the strength to lift an arm the colors finally set themselves and the mountain stopped moving. Her hair and clothes matched up with her eyes in a vibrant rainbow color.

Having managed that she clung to Nolan and spoke weakly. "I think... we're safe now." Letting the air out of her lungs she relaxed as best she could.

Nolan made sure that Ariel had a tight grip on him. She looked like she was going to pass out at any given moment. "Just what in the fresh hell was that?" Now that he had a better look at her, she looked like she had every color of the rainbow on her. Until now he hadn't seen this form of her before. Did you...did you completely absorb the magic from the mountain? He asked as he lead her back to the tent, letting her go in first and helped her lay down slowly. 

Once she was back on the ground she had the chance to see most of herself. Giving it some thought she shook her head. "I think maybe it was just going through the mountain. It's stronger up here but now that I can feel it, this whole world is being held together with paint magic. I guess since I was absorbing so much of it that the paint got drawn it too." This was not her day. Leaning her head back she stared at the ceiling. Narrowing her eyes she seemed to be concentrating. After a moment she lowered her eyes to look at Nolan again. "I see the way out. It's almost at the top."

Paint Magic huh? It made sense since it was a painting after all. It was incredible that Ariel could absorb so much of that magic though it seemed like that was too much even for her. Still, now that she had this magic there was a chance that they could escape this world once and for all and he was right on the money. She was able to see the exit with her newfound powers! He leaned over and hugged her tightly. "This is great Ariel. We're so close of leaving this place. We can go home."

Smiling lightly she even managed a slight laugh. "Yeah. Just a little more ways to go. Eh, this magic is still weird. Everything looks different here now. Well, except for you. Guess things that are real don't get the same effect." Somehow she wasn't tired, but her body didn't quite want to cooperate. "Let's just stay here until I can move again. You need to get some sleep after my little scare."

Nolan smiled back and nodded in agreement. To say that he was tired was an understatement; he was so fretful over her and even when he slept it was an uneasy sleep. Right now he had no intention of letting go of her. "Alright Ariel. Sleep well." He pulled the covers over them and soon he was asleep. 

Ariel stayed up most of the time but still got some rest in between. When she was awake she pondered how exactly this kind of magic functioned. It wasn't like a lot of others that had some element or a kind of guide. However as she thought ideas began to pop into her head. With one hand she put a finger against a wall and began to draw. She was not a very skilled artist but she made something that looked like a chair. While looking at it she thought it was good enough and it jumped from the wall and became "real" Or as real as it was in this world. It did look kind of wonky when it was an actual object though. "Wow." That was some kind of power. Maybe it was amplified being in a paint world. Only one way to find out and that was by getting out of here.

For the next two days, the couple had hiked up the mountain with high spirits. Nolan was probably the cheerfulest that he had ever been in his life. It all had felt like some crazy dream though he knew that it was all real. It was strange though for some reason his whole body felt light whenever was with her, as if he was just walking in the air. 

Ariel had used whatever free time they had to practice her newfound paint magic. While her creations were certainly not master pieces, they seemed to had become stronger and stronger the closer they got to the top of the mountain. Surely she must've had enough power to open up the exit. 

He didn't know about Ariel, but Nolan was wondering what it was going to be like for them once they returned to the real world. They've disappeared for about a month and they'll be returning as a young, happy couple. He was going to have to meet her parents and both friends and family would probably have a lot of questions to ask! Now that was something to happen in the close future. 

This was the last day of the hike up the mountain. Nolan had woken up next to Ariel and smiled at her sleeping face. He closed his eyes and nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck and kissed it softly. "It's time to get up." He whispered softly.

Waking slowly she lifted a hand and brushed it through Nolan's hair. It had gotten pretty long in the time they'd been here, as her her own. Once they got back that would probably be one of the first things she would get fixed. They were so close she didn't waste a whole lot of time getting up. "Feels like it's taken longer just getting up here than the whole rest of out stay. Is it the same for you?" She askes as their things were packed up for the last time.

Shrugging, he helped her back up their supplies for the last time."Time is odd here. It feels faster at times and slower at times. It's nearly impossible to have an actual grasp of time here." His hair kept getting in his eyes and was now constantly pushing it away from his eyes with some visible annoyance. "The first thing we do is get haircuts. This is ridiculous." He grumbled in the grumpy attitude that he was all too well know for in the guild.

"No kidding. You're a guy though so it isn't as long as mine. I haven't let it get this long in years. It's almost to my shoulders. I don't know why but I just can't do long hair," She grinned at their complaining. It was nice to have such a simple thing to worry about having to deal with after all this. 

Since they were on their last day the pace seemed to be a bit faster than usual. Maybe they were just so ready to get out of there that any tiredness was trumped by excitement. They hadn't quite reached the peek but they were now on the ridge and could see for miles in every direction. Although to be fair there was only so much to look at before it faded into a white nothing. It put into perspective just how small the world they'd been living in was. 

Still what was there was a sight to behold and they couldn't help but stop and share the moment. "Wow.... I really am going to miss this place. Kind of wish we'd tried to climb up here sooner so we could enjoy it longer." She had her arms around Nolan and was leaning her head against him.

A content sigh came from him as he enjoyed being so close to Ariel. His right hand gently stroked her now long hair, letting each strand go through his fingers. He was going to miss this place too though he knew that they had to leave. "There is far more out in our world Ariel...Though I'd be lying if I didn't say that this is beautiful." For some reason, he couldn't help but to laugh a bit. "It's crazy, but getting stuck here with you may be one of the greatest things that had ever happened to me."

Smiling softly she nuzzled his cheek playfully. "Aww, you're so sweet. I feel the same way." Stepping back she spun around and continued walking, throwing her hands in the air. "I couldn't have asked for more. And soon we'll be back and surprise everyone." After a few more steps she paused and glanced ahead. There was still a ways to go up to the summit but the spot that she'd been sensing was almost level with where they were now. Putting a finger on her chin she supposed it could be on the other side, but it didn't feel that far away. "Oh... I think the exit is inside the mountain top."

He watched her walk on behind and he simply caught himself staring at her. She really looked beautiful in the perpetual dawn light. Nolan walked over to her side and looked up to the summit. "Let's move then. There's no time to waste." He grabbed her hand and looked where she was staring. "Ready?"

taking his hand she held it tightly. "Of course." Walking together this last part seemed like it was going to be easier than expected. They didn't have as much of an incline to deal with. Once they were about as high as Ariel could tell they should be she took the lead and began to circle around the edge. Yes their destination was definitely inside the mountain. It would be a bit much for her to try and punch a hole through with her magic though. Persistence paid off though as a mouth of a cave came into view. Hurrying over it looked pretty deep. It went far enough down that it became pitch black. "It's in there. Hm." Going up to the wall she painted up a lit torch and it became real. "That's better. Alright, let's keep going."

They were way too close to stop and think about what else might be in the cave. Honestly it probably would have been rather silly to bother with given that there wasn't another living thing anywhere else. The cave twisted and turned several times but with Ariel as their guide it was pretty easy going. She didn't mention it but this close she ability to sense the world around her was a little fuzzy. It didn't seem important at the time. However the walls began to move and without warning the paint of the cavern collapsed on the two. Ariel tried her best to keep a hold of Nolan but they were eventually ripped apart from one another. 

For Ariel the torrent of darkness pushed her around like a rag doll, seeming intent on taking her somewhere. It didn't stop until it suddenly let go and she was in her home, or what looked like home. Confused she spun around several times trying to make sense of what was happening. She began to glow and she glanced down at her hands which burst into flames. It suddenly clicked what weas going on as the place caught fire around her. This wasn't real, she could see it. It was a very good imitation but her magic allowed her to see the truth. "Nice try, but it won't fool me." Throwing her hands out the fabrication of paint shook and started to melt. Coming apart Ariel found herself in the cave again. She looked around for Nolan but didn't see him. "Nolan! Nolan can you hear me!"

"Ariel?! I can hear you fine! Are you alright?!" He called to her in the darkness though he couldn't see her. Just where in the world was she?! His pupils glowed white and he found her soul within the darkness. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as soon as he saw her location. "Hold on, I found-" His words were cut short as a torrent of paint shot out of a wall and began to swallow him. "S-shit! Get off me!" Nolan swung his arms and legs as hard as he could to get rid of the paint though the more he resisted the more it swallowed him. 

Nolan was pulled in completely in a black sphere that kept on growing, as if the entire mountain was trying to swallow him. At this point there was only the low rumble and gurggle of the paint expanding to keep him in. 

Spotting Nolan she barely took a step before the paint attacked him as well. Rushing forward she had some trouble catching up with it as it moved around. However she did manage to lunge and thrust her arms into the sphere of paint in an attempt to get a hold of Nolan. "Hold on Nolan, I'll get you out of this!

This would prove to be too much for her; unlike the paint she was trapped in, this was much stronger. Instead of being able to drag Nolan out, she was being pulled into the paint. Try as she might, she wouldn't be able to resist the mass of paint's power and slowly was pulled into the darkness, into Nolan's memories. 

A flash of light followed by a deafening crack roared in the sky above. Rain was pouring down at an alarming rate as the wind was tearing through everything on a massive ship.  The sea was as black as the sky itself, only illuminating with the wild bolts of lightning tearing in the sky. The ship rocked violently followed by the sound of splintering wood cracking as loudly as the lightning. 

And in the middle of this was a young brown haired boy, no more older than seven years with frightful tears running down his eyes. "Mother! Mootheeeeer!" The boy cried out loudly, desperately looking for his mother within in the chaos. 

"Nolan!" A woman's voice could barely be heard over the cacophany of sounds. A woman with long, wavy brown hair similar to Nolan's and the same shiny black eyes ran towards her child. However, a sick twist of fate would never allow her to reach her son; the mast of the ship had crashed down in between them, smashing the already damaged ship into pieces and then swallowed by a wave. There was only the muffled torrent of the rampaging sea as young Nolan was desperately trying to swim to the surface. Then silence. 

In the dark water the real Nolan was simply floating with his eyes closed tightly and his hands covering his ears.

Having been pulled into the dark ball of paint Ariel was dropped into the chaotic scene  This felt a lot more real than the one she'd experienced. But she didn't have the time to mull on that as the rolling of the ship under her nearly threw her to the deck. Clinging to the railing she could hear the voice of a boy calling out. She had the chance to see the boy and what looked like his mother before the ship began to break apart and the waves washed them all overboard. Tossed at turned in the water she surfaced and was quite turned around. She spotted Nolan, the only other real thing around. He was a good distance away though and with this water it would take a while to get there.

A massive wave rose from the water and then crashed down on them, slamming them further down underwater though the deeper they went, Ariel would notice a red light in the bottom of the water. The red light grew brighter and brighter until it encapsulated them. From the sea they were brought to a completely different place; a different memory. 

This version of  Nolan was only a little older, perhaps nine or ten years old. He was sitting in a cage, dressed in only torn pants. His face was solemn and worn, his eyes sunken from exhaustion. What was most noticable were the scars all over his body, the blood on his pants, and a choker with a red jem on it. The cage was in a large room lit with red lacrima lights all over. There were others; some trapped in cages though they were mostly women.

"So how much for him?" A woman in a large white fur coat asked another woman who was wearing a suit. They were standing in front of Nolan's cage. 

The woman in the suit put her hands together and spoke apologetically to the other. "Sorry, but that one isn't for sale. That's the boss' favorite. You understand right?" 

The woman in the white coat sighed and folded her arms, pouting slightly. "Aw, and he's such a cute one too. What a shame."

Ariel was starting to piece together what was going on. These were Nolan's memories, quite dark ones. Each one just seemed to be worse that the last. There was no way of knowing if she could effect them by just standing around though. She'd seen the older Nolan around at the last one but she hadn't quite noticed him yet. So for now she would try and get to the one in the cage. Running across the room she grabbed the bars of the cage. "Nolan, hold on and I'll get you out." Gripping the bars they softened and she bent them enough to reach in for him. "Come on, we need to leave."

This Nolan hadn't even noticed Ariel, it just sat there blankly staring at the ground. The boy was soon taken to another room silently by the woman in the suit. If Ariel followed him, she would've saw him in a room in front of an older woman, perhaps in her fourties sitting on a couch watching Nolan dance with a deadpanned expresion on his face. His movements were slow yet eloquent, masterful for a child his age. The paint had begun to twist and turn, molding the room to another scene of young Nolan facing what had caused his trauma with women all his life. Countless, horrendous abuses that would leave a person forever scarred and yet his face was always plain. No matter what happened, he didn't cry nor show any pain. 

Suddenly the room bursted in black flames, the flames of a God Slayer though they quickly turned into a deep orange as the memory began to shift. Many temples had molded around her, burning down to the ground and blood...so much blood. Dead bodies were laid out everywhere, cold and lifeless among the flickering flames. The only ones standing were a more recent Nolan before he had joined Phoenix Wing and a white haired man in a long white robe with a black horn protruding from his head. 

"Why...Why would you do this?" Nolan asked, blood dripping from his body. His grip on his sword grew tighter and tighter. "They didn't need to die...So why...WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!" The God Slayer roared, charging at the white haired figure in a blind rage. 

The white haired figure stared at Nolan lacking any form of emotion. He held his palm out and a white hand smashed Nolan's stomach inwards and sent him skidding along the stone floor. "Because the gods demand it." He stepped to the side as a torrent of ashes tore through the ground. 

"I'll kill you...I'll kill you, you fucking nutjob!" Nolan could barely stand though it hardly mattered to the other man, who turned around and walked away. "What the...Don't walk away...Don't you dare-" He coughed up blood and fell to his knees. 

"I don't feel good about killing children. Don't let me see you again." He vanished without a trace. Nolan had passed out on the ground.

By now Ariel had stopped trying to interact with the world around her. Forced to watch these horrible things happen she stood in shock. With each one she felt numbed and horrified. This was Nolan's past, all these things happened to him. It was no wonder why he acted the way he did, pushed people away, feared women. He'd lost and been abused many times over. And these were just glimpses. 

By the time the last scene with the white man had played out Ariel had sat down because her legs wouldn't carry her. She was just a witness to the past and it left its mark. In such a daze it took her a few minutes to realize that her Nolan was the one laying out on the ground. She had to get to him. Crawling forward she eventually managed to stand on wobbly legs and make her way over to him.

When she did make it though she very nearly fell on him. Moving close she rolled him over and held him tightly. "N-Nolan... I'm here. You need to wake up." Her voice was weak and she was fighting back tears. Leaning her head down she put her forehead against his. "I didn't know. How could I? These things that happened... I need you to remember more. Not all these aweful things. Think of your friends, the guild... think about us. Remember what you told me." She stroked his face gently and lifted him into her lap. "Don't give in Nolan. I need you, you need to come back with me."

It all hurt...oh god it hurts. His body felt like it was anchored, his very soul was being dragged down deeper and deeper into the abyss. It was so cold to fall away from the light. There was nothing; there is only the pain that haunted him every night. The abuse, the loss, the anger...it all tore through his body. Perhaps he could finally give up, just stop fighting the monsters in his mind. 

And yet there was one ray of light, so warm and comforting. He heard echoes of Ariel's pleads going through his mind until his eyes finally opened from the nightmares.Ariel... He smiled weakly at her trying to put on his strongest front, but for once in his life it was starting to break; tears were running down the sides of his face and he held onto her as tight as he could, burying his face in her shoulder and finally let years and years worth of sadness out. 

When he said her name and opened his eyes Ariel smiled briefly and set out sigh of relief. "Hey there." Not much else was able to be said as she watched him break in her arms from repressed emotions. For a long time she said nothing and simply held him like a child letting him cry out on her shoulder. When the tears stopped flowing she brushed his hair gently and kissed his head. "Let it all out Nolan. I'm here for you."

No, no...I'm done now...I'm fine. He lifted his head from her shoulder that showed his eyes were now red from crying. For so long he had carried this weight on his shoulders and now he felt lighter. No, crying wasn't going to be an answer to his emotional trauma, but now he felt at least human. 

Nolan sighed, exhausted by this ordeal. They both were. I love you. He placed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. Slowly he moved in and kissed her lovingly yet needingly, as if he couldn't live without her. 

Ariel didn't even say anything, she didn't have to. This whole time they'd been getting to know each other but that all felt small in comparison to this walk through Nolan's past. She was able to understand him better and share the burden. More importantly though she'd pulled Nolan from the brink because of it. They'd been flirty and loving on each other the last couple weeks but she dove head first into nightmares and the only thing that kept her going was Nolan. It wasn't that she couldn't leave him behind, she just couldn't leave him.

So when they kissed this time it was more and they both knew it. The hell that had been created around them weakened and melted away in a much less dramatic way than Ariel had dispersed her own. Holding the kiss for a while she eventually broke it and moved to stand, helping Nolan up as well. "Let's finally get out of here." The exit was only a few yards away and having crossed the last hurdle were able to exit.

Ariel and Nolan - Return to Crocus

Having had an adventure unlike any other in their lives Ariel and Nolan escaped from the mountain scape painting in Isla's apartment. Ariel looking over at Nolan it was almost hard to believe that they were even back. Having just spent a month together in the cold everything looked weird. However before long Ariel suddenly changed to her Lightning magic and jumped in the air with excitement. Throwing herself at Nolan she spun them around. "We did it Nolan, we're back! Oh my god what do we do now? I didn't think this far ahead."

Nolan caught her in his arms and spun around with her with a big grin on his face. They were finally back at last! They were free! "The best I can think of is head off and ask someone the date today. At least we can do that and then make our way back to the guild." He glanced back at the painting and shuddered as if ice cubes had fallen down his back. "I'm fine with never going back in that painting again. That trip down memory lane wasn't worth it."

Looking back as well she shivered a bit as well. "Yeah. It looks nice an peaceful but it hids a dark secret. We'll just have to visit some real mountains." Her eyes drifted to the other paintings in the room. "Who even made these I wonder. Being able to put people in paintings is really powerful. What do we do with the rest of these? There were still dozens of the things all around them. Knowing what they were not it was no wonder she was drawn to them.

The place gave her the creeps though so she took Nolan's hand and stepped out of the apartment. We'll tell Jamie about it and let her handle it. That's probaly best." She shut the door so that hopefully no one else would wander in and trap themselves. Once out on the street things didn't look like they changed much. In fact everything looked set up for the Grand Magic Games. Asking a passer by the date the man looked at Ariel like she was some kind of weirdo but gave the same date they left. Hurrying over to another person she asked again with the time and year. Still asking another meant the same answer.

Nolan catching up to the energetic girl, Ariel let her legs fold under her and she plopped to the ground. She just couldn't believe it and she yelled. Whaaat!? Nolan, two hours. A whole month and it's only been two hours. We haven't missed anything. No one has probably even noticed we've been gone." Agast she just sat there a moment thinking about it. What kind of mage could wield that kind of magic? Some hair fell in her face and she blew it back out. 

It certainly was a shocker. How could they be stuck in a painting for a month when in reality it was two hours? They really were lucky though; it meant that they didn't need to hurry back to the guild in Magnolia and Nolan didn't miss the rest of the games. "Let's go back to the hotel. After all of this, I think I need to sleep in a real bed." Nolan smiled and bent down to Ariel. She was scooped up in his arms and Nolan smirked at her playfully. "It doesn't matter how long we were really in there. We're free and that's what matters."
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