@drowningyou,
THE TEMPLE had long been a solemn, recurring fixture in his dreams. even before he arrived at the port and first came to learn its shape and how it stood between the limits of town and the blackwood, it appeared as a great stone structure at the end of every winding, dreamy path he took. solid, staunch, and silent, it would stand there and wait for him, and even though he couldn't move or couldn't see into the darkness beyond its entrance, he knew that there were monsters inside, ravenous and blighted.
this evening, when he arrives at the edge of town, he finds the sight so familiar that he stops and wonders if he might be having another night terror.
but then somebody else brushes past him -- a mother and a son, her back hunched low to support his bleeding arm -- and the flash of blood sends a fresh wave of nausea through him, and he understands that this isn't a dream at all.
so he steels himself. reminds himself there is nothing to fear, when half of the sun still hangs above the horizon, looking after him. yes, he thinks, and enters the temple.
his symptoms had first crept in two days ago. it wasn't his first time falling ill since arriving in yeonghae, but this was the worst one already, if only because he couldn't understand the damned source of it. this affliction made his skull feel twice as heavy and made it sting to channel his magic; he had given up on the light around his hands when it was too painful to manifest it that morning, and now he feels uncomfortably exposed as he takes in the neat, stony interior of the temple.
"excuse me?" he directs his voice to the first healer he saw, cautious. no one here seems monstrous yet, but his parents had also warned him that rot could take many shapes.
another bout of vertigo washes through him. minhae sways lightly, hand on a stone ledger for balance. the burn scars lashing up his wrist are partly hidden by a woven bracelet he had picked up in the festival a few days ago, small, enchanted buds interlaced with the leather. for good health, the vendor had said. how dishonest.
"the apothecary told me that i need to go through the temple to place any orders for their stronger herbs. is that something you can--- do?" minhae presses his lips together tightly as he tries to keep his focus on the healer. perhaps it's this place. perhaps it's making it worse.