UNDISCLOSED DATE AND TIME - DESERT SAPPHIRE HEADQUARTERS - DOCTOR RHEALYN HARLOW’S OFFICE
“I fear the whispers, Doctor. She is always there- her voice tickling the fringes of my mind. She is the last thing I hear when I succumb to slumber anights, and the first one to greet me upon opening my eyes each sun. She is always with me. Her voice is as natural to me now as my own thoughts. The whispers... They never cease.”
Leo spoke slowly, his gaze cast downward at his feet. A grandfather clock ticks and tocks- breaking the tense silence between sentences. Doctor Harlow looks on with a well-rehearsed neutral expression, but the way she fidgeted with her quill was quite telling. She continued to scribble away on her notepad as the troubled knight spoke.
Each pause seemed to stretch on for hours.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick.
“... I made an oath to myself that I would not fall as Captain Ba’Gamnan did, but...” He began as he weaved his calloused fingers together in his lap. His unease was readily apparent in his body language- in how he shifted restlessly in the plush leather seat he found himself in every sennight. “...The more I hear her, the harder it is to deny her. There is... A morbid truth hidden among the whispers, you see. No matter how many times I may reject her, the words she speaks on the failings of man are almost prophetic.”
A tired smile crept across his lips as he finally attempted to meet the Doctor’s gaze with his own. The clouds broke outside and sunlight poured in through the windows from the Shroud beyond them. It shone on his face- on the queer jade stone that had now replaced his left eye. It was a stark contrast from the warm, amber hue of his other.
“T’is you all who have helped me stay the righteous path all of this time, but I am just a man, Doctor. When I break, I will make sure we can use it to our benefit. I will make the IVth suffer for their crimes. My only wish is that my comrades are not around to see the abomination that I become.”
Another tense silence fell over the otherwise cozy doctor’s office. The paintings on the walls silently observed the pair from their ornate frames. There was a certain inevitability about Leo’s words that was hard to ignore- and even harder to deny.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick.
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((( Audio work done by yours truly! The painting is a piece known as “The Desperate Man” by an artist by the name of Gustav Courbet. This is my imagining of what Shemhazai, The Whisperer would sound like to one who has been in contact with her Zodiac stone- as well as the physical toll such mental stressors would cause on one such individual... I hope you enjoy it!
If you, or anyone you know, is interested in joining a Othard and Resistance-Themed FC in FFXIV, please visit our carrd!
https://desertsapphire.carrd.co/
Also, as fun as it is to write about mental anguish, I just also want to say as someone that suffers from mental illness- it is okay to get help! Therapy is not a dirty word, and you are most certainly not alone. Do not be afraid to reach out if you are struggling! You may find that you will be pleasantly surprised by the support you may find in the unlikeliest of places. Have an awesome day, yall! I will do my best to make more posts!)))
