Alitia: In Heavenly Light

XXXIX: Shockwaves

Somehow, the inside of the church building was even more unsettling than the outside had been. 

Luce hadn't even thought that was possible, and yet, she was struck again with each step she took that the inside of the church was so perfectly clean that it almost seemed as if nobody had ever done anything inside, like it was used for the sole purpose of standing there to look beautiful. The church was an incredible building, but that still didn't help the sinking feeling quickly growing inside of Luce's stomach. The armed guards that had led her party into the church didn't do much to help either, and Luce couldn't help but feel as if this was a hostage situation. 

It wasn't as if that was too far off the mark, truth be told. Luce hated to admit it, but she had to acknowledge that there was more wrong with this situation than there was right about it, and she felt sick to her stomach at the idea of everything that was going on. She couldn't see much of Alistair from his place at the front of the group entering the building, but she could tell that it was going to be a while before he was up to moving around again. The crash had done so much more damage to him than anyone else that it was nauseating. Luce had only felt light-headed as they were getting close to hitting the ground, but she hadn't been left covered in her own blood after they made contact with Amity. She didn't even know how the back end of the ship had wound up changing position in such a way that would do so much damage to Alistair. It shouldn't have been possible, but the fact that they were there at all made it perfectly clear to everyone that reality could be stranger than anything their minds were willing to concoct. 

Leora turned to face the rest of the group once they entered the building, and she directed Lianna, Sophia, and the other healers at the front of the party off to a hallway down to the right. "You can find everything you need to look after him in a room down there. I'm sure my assistants would be more than happy to lead you there," she explained. She didn't make eye contact with any of them on account of all of them avoiding her gaze, but that didn't stop Leora from placing a hand on Lianna's shoulder as the blonde woman started off in the direction Leora had pointed out. "I'm sorry."

Lianna didn't seem to know how to respond to that, so she simply nodded silently while holding back her tears as she followed Leora's directions. Sophia was quick to follow after her, Cerise hot on both their trails. The other members of the group opted to stay with the main party, and despite the large number of people in the main area of the church, Luce felt incredibly small, like they were all just bugs waiting to be crushed beneath someone's boot. Everything about this situation was strange, and she was desperate to figure out just what was going on. 

"As for the rest of you, I can only imagine how exhausted you are after all of that. I suggest you do what you can to get as much rest as possible before tonight. I would be more than happy to host you for a meal to help you recover your strength. You can begin to work on the repairs necessary to fix your damaged ship tomorrow after you've done at least a little something to recuperate. A crash like that can cause significant damages to everyone, after all," Leora declared. Her voice was rested in such a delicate cadence that it didn't even seem real, like it was a small tinkling of bells at the back of Luce's mind. That didn't change the fact that Luce wanted to shove Leora's words as far away from her as possible. Something about this was wrong, and she wanted to know what was going on. 

When Luce looked down at her hands, she realized that she was shaking, and when she blinked, she couldn't help but see flashes of wars long past. She had thought she was getting better, but it almost seemed like the crash was shoving her back to the same way she once had been when it came to addressing stress. In other words, it was going to be flashbacks and insomnia for quite some time until she was able to somehow get a grip on herself, and with Michaela planets away on Millennia, Luce could already tell that was going to be much easier said than done.