His fingers tightened involuntarily as Eraqus absorbed Terra's words, both the contents and the mumbled framing, even as the young man before him still refused to meet his gaze.
"Year..?"
His voice reflected the slight flinch in movement that had accompanied the sudden increase in grip, pained surprise unpleasantly choking further words for well over a minute. That could not be, surely. His most immediate memories - jumbled, disjointed and painfully stark in places though they were - protested that length vehemently.
But his heart knew there was no lie here. Not in Terra's words or voice, the weight that bowed his student's shoulders.
He *had* been here. And then he had been gone. Along with whatever memories had been made. The presence of his own magic woven within the House protections told him so, spells he knew for a fact he had never cast, could not have cast.
'Probably' indeed.
"The.. Strange darkness here. Does that play a part in it?" This loss of memory. It certainly had not helped him remember. The foulness beyond the walls lingered, as if recognising it were being referred to.
The mortification Eraqus felt seemed to drain him of what little colour he had recovered in his short rest. "A year," the words were repeated, almost under his breath. His heart keened as grey eyes lifted, staring past Terra to fix on the far wall a moment. "...How long have you been here?" Singular, plural. Before and after that singular year, that much was certain.
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"Year..?"
His voice reflected the slight flinch in movement that had accompanied the sudden increase in grip, pained surprise unpleasantly choking further words for well over a minute. That could not be, surely. His most immediate memories - jumbled, disjointed and painfully stark in places though they were - protested that length vehemently.
But his heart knew there was no lie here. Not in Terra's words or voice, the weight that bowed his student's shoulders.
He *had* been here. And then he had been gone. Along with whatever memories had been made. The presence of his own magic woven within the House protections told him so, spells he knew for a fact he had never cast, could not have cast.
'Probably' indeed.
"The.. Strange darkness here. Does that play a part in it?" This loss of memory. It certainly had not helped him remember. The foulness beyond the walls lingered, as if recognising it were being referred to.
The mortification Eraqus felt seemed to drain him of what little colour he had recovered in his short rest. "A year," the words were repeated, almost under his breath. His heart keened as grey eyes lifted, staring past Terra to fix on the far wall a moment. "...How long have you been here?" Singular, plural. Before and after that singular year, that much was certain.