I See Fire (Arrows)

[Tom]

Description/writing, Speaking , Thinking , Hears

The Casovniks seemed to have vanished from Riordan's presence. A small memory of Naveen Casovnik that had just blinked out of existence. It's been years since the Einfallen boy has seen Kaylan Casovnik. A boy who had been so important to Riordan's state of being. A boy who had kept Riordan living with just a few words. The Casovniks were a mystery to him now. A puzzle that could not be solved. Pieces felt like they were missing and Riordan wanted to find them. The performer needed someone to lean on, someone to hold him steady from all of the broken memories that haunt him.

The golden liquid continues to fill his stomach and burn his throat. All Riordan wanted was his friends. The boy wanted Theseus Rhodium. The boy wanted Naveen Casovnik. The boy wanted Jequirity Eckhart. Death would be the only comfort that could carry him to them. A one way ticket to being brought to the people he loves. The only thing is, a promise was made. A promise to himself and his lost ones. Death couldn't take him, unless it was absolutely certain. Riordan made a promise to live on for them, even if it was a ball and chain that was heavy and hard to bring with him. The chain not wearing down from the pulling Riordan was doing. Death couldn't take him, even though the Einfallen wanted it.

Tempus was closed. The opera house was empty and felt haunting. A place once full of happiness and cheers, was empty with broken memories and broken dreams. The place set a fire in the Einfallen boy's chest. A fire that burned him inside and out. A pain that wouldn't go away, not even with the addictions. His coping mechanism failing like it had done multiple times before. The fire singeing his skin with a loss of hope and willpower. Seat 23 was filled with the names of his failures. The opera house had a body count now. A body count that could essentially continue to grow. Riordan felt the tears fall from his face. The tears make their way to the floor, just like they had done times before.

The street was rough. Riordan hated leaving Tempus for any reason. The District was just as ugly as it had been before. Death was always around the corners in District 6. Medical may be their most popular working, but yet the district couldn't save people from the inevitable. A chill sets itself in Riordan's spine. Fire and Ice play with his body, trying to give a pain each. The boy just blinks it away. The district felt empty and barren. A lost boy wandering around the useless district. Hope was lost for District six. District six was a death sentence for the universe. A death sentence that would never go away. Pain and suffering was all that happened there.

A house that the Einfallen boy had seen multiple times. A door that made him ache. Memories flooding his head with a fire. Right in front of the Einfallen was the Casovnik place. A place that Riordan only figured out recently. His hand contemplates a knock on the door, but his heart aches. A home that he didn't belong at. A home that held one of the most beautiful girls he's ever seen. The hand finally comes down and small wooden sound can be heard. The boy's heart suddenly picked up it's pace. The door creaked and opened. Another boy stands there. A resemblance to Naveen and Kaylan in different ways. The Einfallen felt like breaking down, but swallowed back the tears that were tempting to jump. His voice was ragged and rough, but still came out all the same, "I-Is this the Casovnik House?"

[Arrows]

Abjayoni Casovnik

    Icy thoughts mutilate Jay's mind as the cards twiddle endlessly through his fingers. All that seems left in the desolate house was a feeling of utter emptiness since in truth all the warmth left when Naveen left the world behind. Her voice still hung like heavy rain drops upon Jay's mind, yet each day he forced himself to look at a picture of her burning smile. For every day that passed with her buried six feet under ground where not a single soul could see her smile Jay forget what she looked like more and more. Memories that Jay once could remember with just a snap of his finger took several minutes if not hours to recall. Naveen's spirit was growing harder to maintain within the physical dimension she had departed and with every single inch she traveled away the world grew another degree colder. 

    Just outside of Jay's window the song of a lark travels through the panes of glass still completely covered by the shades Jay himself had drawn back the moment Naveen had been reaped. To this very day they still remained tightly shut with layers upon layers of dust settling upon them. In fact Jay rarely found himself leaving the darkness of his room let alone the privacy of his house. School became optional and more times than not Jay chose the option of staying concealed away playing cards with those who cared to loose their coins. Yet thankfully for Jay men are stubborn and no matter how much they accuse him of various acts of cheating they always come crawling back to play once again. 

    Jay felt his finger's beginning to tire as the Ace of spades ha had been continuing to twirl effortlessly across each of his fingers in various motions faltered just slightly from its elegant pattern. Letting out a sigh Jay swiftly flipped the card up behind his back then without even a second glance he captured it with the fingers of his other hand. With the card safety in its destination Jay once again let it dance between his fingers while his other hand rested before it would once again receive a chance to dance with the card. 

    Through the sullen floor boards the sound of several knocks against the house's aging door reached Jay's selectively hearing ears. At first Jay considered just letting the person who was waiting below just wander off. However, as he thought more on his actions he realized there was a possibility it was yet another person ready to have their money swept away from under their feet, or hands he should say. So with a loud yawn Jay forced himself to his feet from the ground he had been seated upon as he pulled his door open. Upon doing so a cloud of dust took flight into the air and Jay casually let his free hand which wasn't twiddling the car cast the cloud away with a few subtle wafts. 

    Below Jay's feet the old and desolate house's stair creaked and moaned with every step Jay took and he recalled a time when his family would have repaired any problem without hesitation. Yet now it was commonly known that there was a problem known as Naveen's death which no one could ever repair, and so no problems were ever treated the same again. Even Jay found the smallest of tasks physically draining as his emotional center no longer contained the capacity to maintain his lost life. Not only had Naveen taken her own life when she fell to the crow of a canon, but she had also crushed their entire family's heart in the exact same moment. 

    Finally Jay's free fingers wrapped around the dull handle to the front door as he slowly pulled the door partially open. At first Jay wasn't sure exactly who was standing on the porch to the house but as he looked closer he could have sworn he recognized him from some where before. As to where Jay honestly wasn't really sure since most of his memories now laid in a jumbled mess somewhere between the sorrow and grief that permanently ensnared his mind. However there were several things Jay was also able to take into account by just gazing upon the unexpected visitor. First of all he had clearly been drinking which only meant he was Jay's kind of guy. Second, he was not too bad for Jay to look at which now a days were always a brighter thing in life. And third he clearly knew who's house it was by the question that came tumbling out from between his lips. Without moving a muscle besides the card still gracefully winding its way through Jay's fingers he looked at the boy and replied in a very casual manor.

    "Um yeah it is, why do you ask? Are you looking for someone in particular because the only person here is me."

[Tom]

Description/writing, Speaking , Thinking , Hears

The face staring at him was only a reminder of her. Naveen Casovnik. The Casovnik boy reminded him of Naveen. The card that flips in the boy's hand makes Rio want to grab it and throw it across the room. A Casovnik that Riordan didn't know. It was weird for him to not remember much about them when they had such an impact on Riordan's life. The alcohol wan't enough to make him drunk that day, not enough to make him tipsy even. The pain was always there holding him in place and making sure he knew that this was still reality. If the world he lived in was the real world, nothing could be worse.

Any place besides where he was now would be better. A place that Riordan didn't have to go through the achingly painful memories in the Opera House. Even hell was a place that Rioran Einfallen wouldn't mind to be. Three names with three dead bodies. They haunted him everywhere he went. Naveen Casovnik always a silent presence, lips sewn shut to keep the words from hitting Riordan like a ton of bricks. Theseus Rhodium on the other hand was louder in his ways. A melodic tune always was in his head when Theseus would haunt him. The tune so beautiful and original that it'd soothe Riordan, until eventually the tune was stopped and turned into the gurgling of blood in Theseus' throat. Then there was Jequirity Eckhart. The girl of his dreams who haunts him. Silence and eyes staring at him as he sleeps. The music on the violin comes slowly and then a crash of it being broken. The music lost just like Jequirity Eckhart.

Reality came crashing back. Riordan staring at the brown hair that reminds him of Naveen's brown hair. Icy blue eyes staring into his brown ones. A sibling of the one and only Naveen Casovnik. A frown finds it's place on his face where it belonged. The Einfallen boy doesn't deserve to smile or be happy. Happiness is only a ideal. Everyone is shooting to make it to the ideal and be happy, but Riordan Einfallen had shot and missed hard. The boy doesn't deserve happiness in the terrible world that it was. Why was he being punished? What did Ripred want from him? Riordan didn't know, but whatever it was Riordan must have failed multiple times and this is his suffering that he receives. His own little hell to live in.

The Casovnik boy speaks and Riordan tries his best to listen. The boy's voice is as casual as he looks, "Um yeah it is, why do you ask? Are you looking for someone in particular because the only person here is me." What was Riordan looking for? Was it Kalyan Casovnik? Was it Naveen Casovnik? Riordan couldn't remember and didn't care. All that mattered was he found the Casovnik home. A home that held one of the greatest people he has ever had the pleasure of meeting and knowing. The sewn lips appear in his head. Words trying to form, but failing. Blood pouring out of her body and Riordan did nothing but watch. A frown appears again and then reality comes back to him.

Riordan shoves a hand in his jeans pocket and the other one goes behind his head and to his neck. The hand soothingly rubs circles in his neck as he speaks to the Casovnik boy. The words were calm and casual, "No. I-I wasn't looking for anyone in particular. I-I knew your sister. I knew her long ago..." The words felt like the weapon that slashed at Jequirity. Stabs of pain that were the truth. The reality of the situation hurts more than in his head. The emotional trauma was easier to deal with than the actual physical pain that he felt. His hand comes down and goes into the other jeans pocket.

Riordan watched the boy with quite a bit of attention. Facial features reminding him of his closest friend. Afeeling of sorrow fills within Riordan and he ignores it. The male shoves it back down into his body. Tears threatening to spill don't appear. His face is as normal and blank as it always was. Riordan speaks again, introducing himself this time, "I'm.. I'm Riordan Einfallen. Your sister and I used to work together." His hands stay in his pockets like they deserve to. A sense of touching someone real might break him again. The Casovniks were broken, but not as broken as Riordan was. No one could be as broken as Riordan Einfallen. Riordan Einfallen's name might as well mean broken boy because that's what he was. A broken boy with mistakes.

[Arrows]

Abjayoni Casovnik

    Phantoms phase through the fragile dimension between Jay and his new found visitor. A song of sorrow clearly fiddles through the turbulent air exposed initially from each of the two boys' broken bodies. All their loses and all their suffering spun without will through the tones of their tongues as they spoke. Each of their souls were wreathing within the acidic burn of their worst nightmares. Each of their souls had been kissed by the wickedness of hell itself. Each of their souls were now left to wander a world in which all they saw were the memories of those departed. Each of these boys was a living cataclysmic ripple caused by the blood that ran in rivers during the Games. Snow and his serpent citizens had riddled their lives with the worst of venoms delivered by the shrouded blade of death. The only sun that shone in this kind of baron life was a sun which merely seared their skin. Purgatory was a real thing, and they were right within its hellish heart. 

     Jay's thoughts ebbed away like the waves of the River Styx as images of Navy flowed in with the terrible tides. Visions of Navy's lips sealed by the sewing of her choice made Jay's lips tremble just as they had years ago. Having Navy's voice stolen from existence had been the worst of all the pain that ripped through Jay's skin. Her voice had been a spring of pure delight for the dying world in which Jay and her shared. Her words laid foundation where once there was nothing but a hungry abyss waiting for its next victim. Navy was the single shred of purity and brilliance that had illuminated the scourge of humanity. Her beaming beauty and her caring heart both helped to ignite the passionate phrases that constantly leaped from between her lips. However the Games ended it all. Her spectacular serenade had closed far too many measures before its intended final fermata. 

    Jay's flippant thoughts of Navy were once more swept away by the receding tides as his cold blue fell once more upon Riordan's face. His features flickered with a familiarity Jay couldn't quite explain. Mystery seemed to lie like a shadow over the boy's statement for his visit. Yet after several staring seconds Jay recalled why the boy before, well man before him, carried such a recognizable presence with him. Several times his name had trickled off of Navy's tongue when she spoke to Jay of her day under the dim light of the newly risen moon. Jay remembered clearly the way she complimented him and the way she had described his body to him. She never dove too deeply into the details but from her brief descriptions Jay was able to identify this man as the Riordan of Navy's past. Yet... Navy was dead. So what reason did Riordan have for venturing to her all but empty home? The question grew bolder in Jay's mind even though he ultimately didn't care either way. Riordan was quite a pleasant view for Jay's all but dead eyes after all. 

    Moments of silence had ushered on while Jay stood leaning against the door frame with his card still spinning through his fingers. Jay's upper teeth dug lightly into his bottom lip while he contemplated how to handle the man who shared a connection to Navy just as he did. Although Riordan claimed they only worked together, Jay couldn't help but imagine that something more could have bloomed from their exposure to one another. Navy was something of elite uniqueness to this world and Riordan seemed to carry special qualities of his own. Jay wanted so desperately to discover every detail of Navy that swam through Riordan's mind. Also, Jay found himself determined to see just how much of Riordan he could reveal, in more ways than just his past. Jay always enjoyed a good game, and now it would appear he had found his latest opponent. 

    Subtly Jay removed his weight from the door frame as he pushed the door fully open beside him. "Yeah, I remember your name. Why don't you come inside, I am pretty sure you will pass out before you make it anywhere else. I'll make some tea which should help." As Jay's words slipped casually through his lips not sewn by the threads of sorrow like Navy's were, he began to walk towards the kitchen leaving the door opened behind him. Jay wasn't sure if Riordan would accept his offer, but something in Jay's gut assured him that it was an offer Riordan couldn't refused. So as Jay walked down the dust dwelling hall he strategically placed the card face up on a small wooden table. Jay was curious if the card would even provoke Riordan's attention. After all the card had Navy's picture placed within the heart of the Ace of Spades. 

    With Jay's first curiosity ready to be tested he entered the small kitchen where his parents once spent mornings smiling to each other while their children laughed from the table. However, since Navy's death the only person who still used the kitchen was Jay. Layers of dust hung within this place as well but they were simply less obvious than the rest of the house. In fact, this was Jay's first time using the kettle and the stove in over a year. So as he watched the flames dance below the water filled kettle he turned to face the kitchen doorway in hopes his visitor had followed him inside.