The Aspiring Archivist

Ah, yes. I've already had an experience with spiked cookies. Thanks for the welcome!

Love the rainbow, nice quote and encouraging message! 10/10 well done.

Unfortunately, Brandon scrapped you and you are now bound to an Allomantically inert metal. Still, points for creativity. 6/10

<3 Blood for the Blood God.

Haly and Nameless arrive in TAAron's room in the clinic, room D55. It is exactly as TAAron had left it before, except for two things. There are traces of blood on the desk, and his bag is in a corner, with TAAron's notebook on the floor next to it, open to a page that has been written on.

"Okay then! Thank you so much for your..." TAAron's voice trailed off, and he collapsed. This time, however, he did not get back up. He lay in a heap on the metal floor, breath shallow. While this was just a dreamscape, it was apparent that TAAron's condition was worsening. His mind, as damaged as it was, was failing at a basic level, and soon the rest of him would follow suit. The manipulator saw his threads to the boy waver. Good, he thought. Not too much longer now.

TAAron sounded panicked and confused "What? Working? Who are you?" All of the sudden, his eyes unfocused, then focused again. "Woah, what was that? Did... you say stabilize? Why should I need stabilizing? Just follow the thread. I'll be... fine." He shuddered, as if from some cold that only he could feel.

"Okay. I was developing this idea, actually. Before I went comatose. I think the idea was that all of the magic systems operate to some degree on these... threads. Haly can create spatial connections using them, Nameless can manipulate them pretty directly. I think whoever is controlling me used these things to get to my body through my brain. So he wasn't manipulating my Intent, exactly, but instead really, directly controlling me. Anyways, I think Nameless is the best bet for generating the connection, although Haly seems to be developing an ability to trace them as well. Be careful, though. Whoever this is can cut threads, too. That's how he trapped me in the first place." Suddenly, TAAron's form in the strange realm jolted. He fell to the floor, only to bolt straight up again. "AH! What happened? Why am I here?"

After a long pause, TAAron responded: "Maybe Nameless... he can weave, right? He did it to get to me."

"I don't know who. I can still think for myself, but... not much else." TAAron furrowed his brow as if confused. "It strikes me as odd. No typical form of control has been observed to have that effect."

TAAron asks, "Am I dead? "

Using as strong of a push as he could with so little thread to work with, the manipulator jerked Nameless' head to the side. Of course, now that he knew it could happen, the man could resist such attempts quite easily. He wouldn't know that, however. Ah. You've been too close, for too long. Soon I'll have you as well, my weaver friend.

Why do people deny the feared truth? You're scared that I'm right, aren't you? Or perhaps you don't really even care. You've barely met the boy. Come now, he isn't worth it. What's the use of a good conscience if it's pinned to a corpse?

I still have him, you know. What will you do if he wakes up? I'll kill you. Better yet, I'll kill him. I have him, Nameless.

He was such a wonderful scholar. I imagine he was right on the cusp of discovering something great. He saw into the Exorealm, I think. Such a shame he'll never be able to share his wisdom. Yes, a tragic loss.

Snip, snip, spoke the voice in both of their heads. Don't get too confident now...

What if I'm the only one keeping him alive? I could cut the strings. One step out of line, and he's on the fast track to the Beyond.

The manipulator continued, thinking of bluffs to try and convince the man to give up. Dead. There's no saving him now, and you know it. And if you leave this place, he will be back under my control. Give up, and save yourself.

This is here? Yay! Hello, Percy Jackson fan and general mythology enjoyer here. How are you all doing?

Using his waning control over TAAron, the manipulator found that he could jump a connection to Nameless' mind. It wasn't nearly enough to have any semblance of control over him, but it was enough for him to whisper. Given the lost cause that was using the fallen boy as a vessel, it was important now to discourage his friends from potentially healing the scholar. Dead, he whispered in the weaver's mind. He's already dead.

Yes, I know. This is my pathetic attempt at humour.

Draws, like with a pen?