Ooooooh hehe I just made third temple even angstier. Originally charging the stone kinda hurts Sasha a bit so he pulls it out early but I didn't have a good reason for it to other than "oh cause he like awakened them or something" but now. Now I have a wonderful reason. Yknow what maybe we should start warning for spoilers so like major Wandering Vagabond spoilers under the cut. See this doesn't actually matter because I have yet to share my tumblr on ao3 but it's here
Okay so Sasha gets permanent reminders of her powers in the form of her hair and eye (lol almost wrote eyes) and now I have a good reason for it. Her powers are literally what's keeping her alive. Like she died but no clone situation like Anne it's still the same body (hence not fixing eye) and is only alive because her powers are like "nope can't let lizard man win". So when they go to charge the stone, and that power is transferred out of her? Essentially so is her life force. Sasha didn't know what exactly saved him before with the herons, only remembering a faint voice, but in that moment? He knows it has to do with the gems. He knows that if the gem takes all the energy back, he will die. So he pulls the gem out almost immediately, but it's still a little to late. The gem is charged about halfway, and Sasha is weakened the same amount.
The girls don't understand, of course, especially Marcy (and all the voices with her), and they try and fully charge the stone. Sasha speaks, because she has to, it's the only way to get them to listen. It's barely comprehensible, said just before she passes out, but it convinces Anne, who in turn convinces Marcy to at least wait until Sasha wakes up. Which doesn't happen for a couple days. They return to the Forgers, who recognize what's happened immediately, having seen the heron fight and its aftermath. They explain that this usually happens after Sasha uses his powers, and Anne and Marcy's eyes go wide, but for different reasons. Anne, because she's reminded of those small times that people said her eyes flash blue and she feels stronger, because she's finally making the connection between the pink hair and eye to the pink gem. Marcy, because this means that Sasha is a threat now, but where did that thought come from? And the little orange shell tightens it's hold.










