there's been trials and tribulations

The growing green orb had been so innocent at first.  I’d been foolish to even assume such a thing in this place would be innocent. Before I could even think better of it, before I could even take a step back to turn away, all I could see was green.  But that wasn’t the worst of it.  The worst of it was the screaming. It was immediate, as if someone was trapped in my skull and screaming at the top of their lungs to be liberated. Instinctively I flattened my ears against the sound, shaking my head as the sound reverberated in my skill.  Every now and then, I’m able to make out words inside my head.  Commands inside my skull. It takes me precious moments of anguish to finally comprehend that the words are instructions, my means to bring this torment to an end.  I stagger a few steps still unaccustomed to the volume inside my head.  I worry that my senses will be dulled to other threats, but Everly is quick to reassure me that she’ll do her best to be my ears for me...when she’s awake.   The sleeping spells had been recurrent since we’d been here, some sort of illness or condition that she must have picked up since stepping through the portal.  Regardless of our own infirmities, I couldn’t afford just to linger.  I had the twins to consider.  I wasn’t going to leave them to themselves in a place like this. *** The screaming hadn’t relented.  Not for one moment throughout the day. My ears stayed flattened against my head for the better part of the day, and my features must have appeared as a permanent wince.  I tried to keep my appearance neutral for Vera and Nea’s sake, but that just… wasn’t possible.  It seemed Vera found herself in her own mess - quite literally.  I had vowed to help the girl stay up for three days, but I wasn’t sure how I could help a child forgo something as important as sleep.  My first thought was to have Everly use her magic to speed time along, for all our sakes, only to find that Everly’s magic didn’t function in this place.  Not to mention my next thought was that I didn’t want to anger whatever magical beings lived here by cheating the system.  So instead, we explored. I kept a close eye on both of the girls because it was evident that there were way too many things that went bump in the night here.  The combination of both the night and the sea would have been soothing, if not for the screams that were out for blood.  Quite literally, in this case.  My silver gaze swept the sea, oblivious to the danger lurking there, before I moved to stand alongside Vera.   “Strange out here without the moon and the same stars, don’t you think?” I said, lamely, unable to control how loud my voice as I could hardly hear myself speak over the chants of Kill, Kill echoing in my head. -- V E S P E R -- "In a sky full of stars, I think I see you." image credit

@Savera