1.03.2008

Farrago crouched, eyes squeezed shut, on the floor, expecting the worst. She swallowed expectantly, pulling-hard-on a lock of her hair. He’s going to leave, he’s going to leave, he’s going to--
"Get up off the floor," Matthias said, and Farrago opened her eyes, disbelieving. "I don't think you're crazy. And I'm damn certain I can fight off the Watchers, whatever they are."

Almost smiling, Farrago considered this. Fight them off… well, he was certainly ambitious, this one-and brave. She looked up at him. "They're already here. They're watching, they're always watching."

"If they do anything, I'll kick their asses back to England."

England? She paused, confused, nearly drifting into darkness and silence. Merlin, however, saved her, shouting in her mind, “Focus!” She focused. "No, they never do anything, they just watch..."

"Well, then, why do you fear them?"

She stared, disbelievingly. "They watch!" Duh!

"And that's all they do! They won't hurt you. They can't. And if they so much as try..."
Maybe… just maybe, he actually could keep her safe. What a funny idea, Farrago thought. Never even considered… hmm. His shiny arm was doing funny things, and Farrago blinked at it. From Matthias’ expression, this was meant to impress her, and it did look rather forbidding…. She gawked at it obediently.

"Now, let's go." Go where… oh. Oh! Farrago stood up slowly and began to follow Matthias again.

Through the corridors he led her, and they seemed to Farrago to twist and turn in insanely complicated patterns. Her mind wandered and her eyes blurred, glowing slightly. She was still rather upset with herself for being such a trivial little girl, and it was bringing her down quite a bit... but the Watchers had gone. Trying to remember when exactly their presence had faded, she blinked slowly. Everything was so blurred, like a load of old clothes and aluminum cans left out in the sun for months, looked at through dirty sunglasses… the major impressions were still vaguely there, but the colors and the details were faded, merging together and changing. A song, perhaps the soundtrack of a memory, began playing quietly in her head, and she walked gracefully, footsteps timed to the beat.

See into the dark... just follow your eyes… follow your eyes…
Hear her voice… calling my name… the sound is deep in the dark…
Hear her voice… I start to run… into the trees. Into the trees…

Farrago squinted, trying to recolor the faded outline of the memory.

The girl was never there. It’s always the same…

She shook her head. She was so close, so close… closing her eyes, she attempted furiously to smooth out the wrinkles, to remember-BAM. She walked straight into Matthias, who had stopped suddenly. She sat down hard, looking up at Matthias, head tilted. “Bam?” she whispered, but only loud enough for Merlin to hear.

“My sword’s just around that corner.” Matthias gestured. “You might wanna stay here. In case there’re guards.” Farrago nodded, and sat down against the wall, playing carefully with Merlin in her lap. Matthias looked at her for a moment, and then continued around the corner.

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