R U [ I ] N E D

...And Then, They Threw Him into the Volcano

The Grand Commander's son was struggling to keep his eyes open, but the warmth of Phoena's voice and the touch of her skin as it danced along his had Callan dipping in and out of reality. All of it just felt a dream world to him, painted in hazy pastel hues... it was nice— and it provided just the distraction that Brady and Erzia had needed.

"Told you," Erzia said, overtly smug in a way that had Phoena's own face growing hot as she hurried them along.

"Get on with it already."

Which was just what they'd do, Erzia nodding to Brady. "Your turn for the face cradling." Phoe's cheeks glowed brighter, rosy and pink, as she scooted over so Brady could get closer. Once he was settled there, Erzia dove deeper into her explanation. "You'll need to place your hands on his temples and maintain contact to mind walk. It's easier with better understanding of the person you're working on, so hopefully you guys have been bonding..." Considering how much Braedyn liked to play around in Callan's mind, that part wasn't going to be a problem. He followed Erzia's instructions, one hand one each side of Cal's head, then awaited the next step in the process. "Good. The best way to get in is to use a recent memory that you're involved in, then move on from there. If you focus on that shared memory, you should be able to find the door in pretty easily."

Brady shook his head, not entirely understanding what she meant. "The door?"

Erzia nodded. "The door. I've heard memories work like a long hallway? A bunch of doors connected to a singular hallway. There are other ways to get in, but since you're new to it, better to start with something you share then move from there. Recalling the memory yourself while focusing on your contact with Callan will open the door for you, so to speak. Something in the memory should call out to you. You'll know it when you see it."

You'll know it when you see it.

Brady had definitely been hoping for better advice than that, but what could he do? It wasn't like he had anything else to work with here, so he'd just have to make the best if Erzia's convoluted instructions.

"Oh, and by the way, you're going to be entirely immersed in his mind and memories once you go in, so you won't have a clue what's going on out here," she added, exceptionally casual for something that seemed entirely not that. "You won't be on your own, I'll just give you instructions mentally."

"You can do that?"

"Telepathic speaking, yeah. Like I said before, lots of telepathic abilities, but most can only master a few. You and me though? As Runeholders? We have an innate advantage there."

Braedyn almost wanted to ask what else she could do, but it was neither the time nor the place, so he simply nodded and readied himself to enter Cal's mind. What memory with Sir Prince did he want to use? Call him a masochist if you wanted— or don't since he clearly didn't enjoy being stabbed— but he decided on the memory of Cal patching him up after his fight with Raita. The shifter had said he didn't care— repeatedly, in fact— but Brady knew better and he'd gotten to see how much Cal truly cared for their home. It made him feel closer to him, so the telepath thought it as good a memory for this as any other he could come up with.

That settled, Erzia had one final piece of advice before he took the plunge: "Older memories are usually more susceptible to being messed with, so i think it'd be better to start there. Might be a bit of a trek since they'll be at way at the end of his hall of memories, but as soon as you find one that's corrupted, that should be good enough to follow the trail of false reality."

"Right..." Brady wished it felt as easy as she made it sound. "Got it. No problem." He sucked in a sharp breath, exhaling as he steadied his hands. "Here goes nothing..."

Bringing that memory to the forefront of his mind, at least, took no effort at all. Given Brady had been in awful pain and on the verge of passing out, it was particularly memorable. He didn't think he'd forget those feelings any time soon. After freeing Callan and Phoena (and countless others) from that accursed crystal, how he'd barely been able to keep his wits about him, but once they'd realized how badly hurt he was, both his friends came to his aid. Callan didn't waste any time in taking care of him, and it didn't really matter to Brady if any of those reasons were selfish ones, though it did make him feel a bit more guilty about being so reluctant to do this for the shifter. Still, as promised, he hadn't let Brady die— Sachi's healing was inarguably far superior, though— and now Brady was doing this for him. Whatever this was going to turn out to be... hopefully not a regret to haunt Callan the rest of his life.

As it was, nothing called out to Brady as Erzia said it would. It just seemed normal. The banter— Brady was an expert, if he could say so himself. The stitches— all twelve of them, painful as the next. The vodka— which his "doctor" had been told oh-so inappropriately drinking on the "job." But none of that was out of the ordinary, nothing was until Callan came back from a round and joined Brady and Phoena again. Then, and only then, as his gaze followed the shifter, did Brady notice something that piqued his attention. The hall from which the three had come into the inn's common area that morning had an incandescent quality to it that it never had before, and Brady felt drawn to it like a moth to a flame, beckoned forward. That was, if you could really be beckoned like that in your own memory that you were observing.

But he saw it, and he knew... so he went, unsure of what might await him on the other side.