[ChicletPrime]

Thorns Under The Moon: 10

• even i've noticed he's losing control of his evol, and i notice very little for the most part. 
  
• "he lowers his head, and his chin rests on the top of my head."  awww. ffs.
  
• "what if the Wanderer wasn't the only source of danger." Zayne. darling Zayne. i have met a man that can't die. i put a bullet through his heart. are you sure I'M all that safe to be around?
  
• ooh, good point girlfriend. Zayne *has* been acting less sure of himself than normal.
  
• "a dream remains a dream so long as you wake up from it. but when that day comes... when i can't wake up..."
  
• is that what's going on? you sleep and dream and its harder and harder to open your eyes?
  
• if that day ever comes, i will find you in your dreams.
  
• soooo glad you noticed my problem solving skills are on the straightforward and brutal side. we need to be clear on this, no question. you point out the problem, i'll kick its ass.
  
• aww, he made me more little ice seals to take home!
  
• okay, back to the more immediate problem, which is escape...
  
• "in an instant, the entire world froze into black amber."  wooo. okay. okay Zayne. feel free to hold something in reserve for later?
  
• "let's end this before the breaking dawn arrives -- "  NICE!
  

Thorns Under The Moon: 12

• SNAP BACK TO REALITY, oops, THERE GOES GRAVITY
  
• whack the Wanderer (the Myst) and i feel an intense tremor in my heart.  the resonance is unmistakeable - akin to gentle waves brimming with power.
  
• NO FUCKING WAY
  
• aaaaand we're back in the real hospital in Chansia, not the Silent Hill one.
  
• aaaand i collapse out of...stress? hold me, Dr Zayne! no matter what reality we're in, you're always willing and able to pick me up and i'm going to let you each and every time.
  
• hey, protocore fragment in my hand! even when my crystal-heart-attack is going on, i'm still on the job enough to grab the lyrium.
  
• (i envision us on one of these plump white lounge chairs, he's cradling me in his arms and i am all curled up against his chest, my muddy boots make a mess over the arm, cupping the little glowing fragment in my shivering palm.)
  
• (maybe a glitter of rime and frost in a ragged circle around us)
  
• oh, we were trapped for three days? and nobody out here could, you know, collapse the field for us? considering the hospital has in-built Stabilizers? nobody?!
  
• okay, somebody sabotaged a Stabilizer with a little metal disc. boy, does that sound super familiar.
  
• THREE DAYS LATER | LINKON CITY
  
• oh boy, Zayne's place. VERY nice.
  
• and he's asleep peacefully on the couch. awwww.
  
• okay. so Raymond dies, and Xander Sciences got bought up by EVER.  and now Xander's staff are running around with advanced protocore tech, that manipulates the flux fields, attracting Wanderers.
  
• "Ever is creating monsters." 
  
• Finally, we've arrived. The moment of truth. The bad guys revealed in all their shady glory.
  

• ..and Zayne is dreaming of sunlight and the unbroken city and the girl. he reaches out his hand and she takes it without hesitation.
  
• aaaand we're back in the shadowed corridor that doesn't end
  
• "black crystals emerge from his palm - they encroach on the girl's forearm."  nooo, it was such a nice dream for a hot second there!