Tale as Old As Time [Finished]

[accalia]

As the young master sits so does Echo, gracefully sliding back into his chair without a sound. Echo is severely underdressed in his dusty black, many stained, and much patched suit jacket over a smart black button up shirt that is obviously newer than the jacket, but is also starting to show signs of wear.

Echo keeps his eyes focused on the young master, his pupils dilated slightly and out of focus as if he is looking at something not entirely a part of this world.

[yamikuronue]

Siegfried finishes serving Lance, and sits himself. After a moment of awkward silence, he tries to start up a conversation.

"So... did you have a good day, Young Master?"

Lance gives a brief nod, eating in silence.

[accalia]

Echo eats the meal in silence, his gaze remaining unfocused but rarely drifting from Lance. At the conclusion of his mean he gathers his dishes automatically and rises to rinse them off at the sink before returning to the table and once again sitting silently.

[yamikuronue]

Siegfried tries a few more times to engage Lance in conversation, but eventually gives up, letting the meal lapse into awkward silence. As Echo clears his dishes, Rosanna pops up and does so as well, but once she drops off her dishes she flees entirely. Siegfried hovers around the table, clearing the centerpieces, unsure what to say.

Lance finally speaks up, looking straight at Echo. "Rosanna seems fine."

[accalia]

Echo nods gravely at Lance's words a guarded look in his eyes.

"She will recover fully in time, she was very close to death and that leaves a mark on one that will take some time to recover.  They day before yesterday however, or was it the day before that? ahem sorry, before this one intervened she was in much worse shape. This one thinks it likely that if this one had not removed the darkness that was eating her lifeforce from her that she would now be dead."

[yamikuronue]

"But she's recovering now. So you're not likely to stay much longer." Lance's voice is flat and even.

[accalia]

Echo sighs, so this was why the master attended dinner tonight.

"This one will depart as soon as this one is able, however this one is not yet fit for travel, a healing such as the one performed by this one is incredibly dangerous and draining. It is not only Rosanna that needs to recover, indeed her recovery will be faster and easier than this one's."

Echo's eyes slide into focus and pierce Lance with an bottomless ice blue gaze.

"This one took the darkness out of Rosanna, the darkness that was killing her, that darkness had to go somewhere, and releasing it into the world would only see it infect another. No this one took it into oneself and there it shall be denatured, destroyed, broken until it cannot infect another again. this is a long process, one that will take several weeks. There is also Rosanna, who is so newly touched by darkness. she would be an attractive target for any dark spirit in the area and if this one left and one attacked she would be far worse off than she was with the original infection."

[yamikuronue]

Lance snorts. "Sounds like a crock of shit to me. What med school talks about broken darkness?"

[accalia]

Echo replies with more than a little pain in his voice.

"This one could not say. This one does not pretend to be a doctor. rightly so, for this one is not trained in those arts. What this one knows is pain, injury, and how to move and manipulate it. this one knows how to use that knowledge to remove pain and injury from others. That is who this one is, what this one is."

Echo draws his white enameled butterfly knife from one sleeve and holds it, closed, by the hinge. The speed of his movements make it appear as if he had always held the knife, but that it had until now just been invisible.

"This one knows that is a strange claim in this day and age, and so this one would be willing to show you an example. Siegfried, if you would please cut yourself, nothing too serious, but something that would require your first aid kit. This one would then show the Young Master what exactly his art is..."

[yamikuronue]

Siegfried clears his throat. "Begging your pardon, but there's no need. I have witnessed firsthand the healing you performed for Rosanna, and would be happy to vouch for your abilities."

Lance growls. "Or they were working together. I caught him prying around in Mother's garden, digging up secrets."

[accalia]

Echo shrugs at Siegfried's words, but those of Lance a moment later shake him as much as a slap to the face would.

"This one does not prevaricate. What then would the young master want to see as proof of this one's abilities? if it is as you say you could not trust any test of proof offered by this one as it could be staged. Name then the proof you would require and this one will provide it if it is within this one's ability."

[yamikuronue]

"You could heal my scars," he snaps, cruelly.

Siegfried doesn't even bother clearing his throat; he's on that like lightning. "Lance Roidmet, you forget yourself! Leave him be. If any harm comes of his being here on my head be it."

[accalia]

Echo stands and moves to the chair recently vacated by Rosanna to sit next to Lance. Carefully he places the now open knife in front of Lance, a single red drop of blood at the tip. An answering spot of blood wells up from Echo's palm, at the end of that tight spiral of points.

"That is something that this one can do. it will be painful for a moment, but have no fear it will hurt this one far more than it will hurt you. This one would require contact with your blood to perform this act. the smallest scratch will do. This knife is quite sharp, a nick from the tip should bring no great pain and result in a welling of the blood this one will need to perform the art this one knows."

[yamikuronue]

Siegfried scowls at them. "Sir, perhaps you would wish to see the wounds the Young Master is speaking of. They are very old, and very deep. We were surprised he did not die from them. So I would not suggest putting yourself at risk for his vanity or pride."

[accalia]

"This one puts ones life at risk with every healing. It is the nature of ones gift. This one can see, can feel the wounds that the young master is dealing with and he has asked one to deal with them. This one acts not out of vanity, nor of pride. This one has been asked to heal and this one will do so."