[AW] The Pain Will Prove You're Mortal

[Atreus]

I've gone a million miles With the same crooked smile Home – he has not seen it in over four years. She looks just the same as he remembers, and yet curiously different all at once. The fetid stench of the swamp still burns his nose in the most abhorrent way, the humidity still clings to his skin like a virus he can’t shake, especially with summer’s unreasonably high temperatures. His hooves threaten to sink into the soupy mud beneath him if he stands for too long, and so he presses on through the densely wooded area, the fog of the early morning making way for the crimson figure. Eerie eyes of gold and black shift as they search, straining through the veil of fog for the things he remembers, for the things he knows must still be there; the symbols etched scrupulously into the bark of an old tree, painted crudely across the rocks, even the old trails he remembers using during his adolescence. Tinea Swamp was a place he had frequented during his time spent here many moons ago, for it had boasted many of the ingredients required for his teachings at the hospital as well as his personal research. He’d passed those old Ilati symbols countless times before, had witnessed some of their creation, so why can’t he find them now? They’re there, he’s sure, even though he struggles to find them now – perhaps the poison had tainted more than just his appearance. Briefly, he stops at the water’s edge. Despite the intense fumes constantly rising up and wafting into his face, Atreus looks down into the depths which are far clearer than one might expect from a swampy bog. Where one’s eyes might narrow at the sight of his reflection, his is unchanging, taking in the differences both subtle and obvious between now and then. Much has happened in the span of his nearly five year absence, and idly he wonders if he’ll recognize anyone, if anyone that continued to reside in Terrastella will recognize him. Truly, the half-blood doesn’t care either way – he’s merely curious – and after another moment of silent pondering, he abandons the musty pool behind him and heads south with the citadel on his mind. ooc - Come and say hello to the Ilati poison master!! :D First posts with new characters are the literal worst - bear with me! <3 And I always give you all you need But I can see that you're dancing with the devil