皿 Always Reserved 皿

Naevus paced into the void, he stood on nothing but skulls. "…" He tries to speak, but his voice was without a sound. A flash of lightning bolts came from behind him, lighting up the cavernous void and showing it with its own colours. The floor was littered with dead bodies of all sizes; some were skeletal monsters from long ago, others were skeletons that Naevus had seen in the other worlds, still, some looked like people and others appeared more like creatures from legend. He knew that something was happening here.

"Naevus," he heard a soft voice call out, "Naevus, please come back."

He turned around to see someone. He looked so… familiar. It felt as if he'd met him before. His eyes trailed down the person's body. The figure appears to have a bizarre look, pale-greenish skin with sore facial features and covered with sackcloth. He felt himself begin to tremble, he could almost feel the cold creeping through his bones. Through the illuminating flashes, he could see the figure's head move, just slightly at first, then it began to flounder lifelessly towards him with each step making a crushing sound against the bones, its eyes were also revealed They were wide, staring straight at him. Naevus saw a blade fastened to its left hand, the hilt made of bone that had been bleached of blood and hardened by time and weather. "Naevus!" This time it seemed more urgent, and the person had moved closer to him now.

"What are you?" Naevus could finally hear himself, but now he's drowned in curiosity and fear.

"I'm…you" came the reply from the creature, it grabbed Naevus by the cloak. "If you really believe you can conquer the world, you are very mistaken. The greatest danger in life is always yourself."

Naevus could feel stiffness in his body, the bones began to snap limb to limb. He cried as it tortured him, he stretched his hands for help from the creature, but it was gone. His face grew pale and greenish, he began to hold his head as the same tremendous pain in his head started. The creature came back to torment him once more, this time with no mercy in its gaze;

'Naevus.'

Naevus awoke with a start. The sky above him was bright and clear. He could hear birds singing and his breath coming in short bursts. As he tried sitting upright, he noticed that a sheet was draped over him and there was an arm under him, helping him prop himself upwards. The arm belonged to Donna; she was dressed simply, her hair tied loosely, and she wore a small smile. She leaned forward, brushing some hair away from Naevus' face. "Are you alright, my love?" she

whispered. Naevus nodded, trying to remember what happened before he lost consciousness. He remembered blacking out outside the city by a god. But how did he get here?

"You are always reserved" Donna replied gently, noticing his confused expression, "but you should not have to pretend when you're with us. We may be your friends, but we are also family, you are one of us Naevus. There's no reason to hide your emotions"

Naevus sighed and rested his head on her chest. He couldn't explain it, he wanted to tell Donna everything, yet the words would never leave his lips.

The silence went on until He finally spoke.

"I found them, but they escaped"

"We found you lying on the ground, outside the city along with two dead soldiers, this…" She enveloped her warm arms and rested her chin on his head, "…there could be a lot more than them escaping."

Naevus went silent as he debates whether to tell her or leave, but he let out a sigh and said, "…something…someone came, he killed my men and…" he began to moan holding his head. Donna saw a light glowing through the veins in his temple,

"What's happening to you?"

"…it hurts," Naevus replied as he kept groaning to the torture that he was feeling. Donna let go of him, as she hurried toward the door,

"Let me get the physician"

"No, don't, I'm fine." he insisted as he pushed himself up using the wall. As soon as he sat upright again, he felt dizziness overtake him and fell to his side, clutching his head. Donna quickly returned and crouched beside him, trying to make sure that he doesn't hit the floor again.

As he recovered, he heard Donna say,

"Naevus, you should rest, and we'll talk about it later"

He laid fragile in the bed, he only stared at her and said, "I don't want to talk about it"

She returned the stare at him but with more concern. Maybe he should keep it to himself, but she did like to share his grief, she loves him so much and would do anything to make him happy.

"Alright, I respect your wish" she spoke soft but grim, "A letter has been sent to my father, he will be coming to witness our success."

Naevus thought about what she said, and conceded he needs to rest, he must be in a good fit before Aemon arrives,

"Yes, I'll rest my love" he breathed in, holding Donna's hand and beaming a smile at her.

She nodded returning a smile at him, "Alright, I'll go check on something" she kissed him on the forehead. He closed his eyes as he heard her walk away.