Courre Therapy Hour

[Sierra]

<Kotono> ------------
<Kotono> OOC: How are you going to find/talk to Yulia?
<Mari> OOC: I'd presume we're staying at an inn overnight in Shivra. Will have to corner her at some point and hope she doesn't flee in terror because of what happened last time.
<Kotono> Mari slinks about, searching for Yulia. You find her after some considerable effort, sitting atop the roof of Shivra. She sits there, reading a book far too large for her. On occasion she mouths arcane syllables and fervent prayers.
* Mari touches down on the roof some twenty feet distant. She doesn't want to alarm the little courre, given what kind of mood she's been in lately. "Er, excuse me, Yulia?"
<Kotono> Yulia looks up from her book, blink-blinking. Her eyes go to Mari's tail first of all, then to her, "Mari?" she asks, a little cautious.
* Mari raises her hands, palms out. "It's okay, I'm not going to try to eat you or anything horrible! I just think we should talk, okay?"
<Kotono> "Okay!" Yulia flutters up into the air, "Talk then!"
<Mari> "Well, it's just, I wanted to make sure...you're not going crazy, are you? You've been really stressed out lately and it's starting to make me worry."
<Kotono> "Crazy?" Yulia smiles and plops right down onto Mari's head, "That's silly talk! If I were crazy I'd just find the spell to fix it!"
<Mari> "No, really, you've been sort of rambling and ranting and freaking out--and sarcastic! You were never sarcastic before! Something's wrong, I can tell. And there's not a spell to fix every problem, so you're just gonna have to talk to us about it."
<Kotono> "Oh sure there is! Master got blown into frozen pieces but there was a spell to fix that!" Humming to herself as she stands and paces on Mari's head, "Kamvakua was desecrated by demons and a spell fixed that and his hand! I just have to learn them, that's all! Right Mari?" Looking down at her with a big, innocent smile, "Like one that evicts a yugoloth!"
* Mari stares at the upside-down courre. "Yeah, that'd be good, but that's not what I'm talking about. Those are physical problems. If you go crazy, or stop thinking you can rely on your friends or trust people or something, there's no spell for that! I mean, are you really okay? You're not just smiling and waving everything away, are you?"
<Kotono> "Don't worry! I'm making sure all of you are going to be fine! It's what I'm along for!" Whistling now as she flutters off and goes to face Mari, "I just can't let anything happen to you again, and all of you are so incredibly accident prone!" For a moment Yulia sniffles, "So I'
<Kotono> "Don't worry! I'm making sure all of you are going to be fine! It's what I'm along for!" Whistling now as she flutters off and goes to face Mari, "I just can't let anything happen to you again, and all of you are so incredibly accident prone!" For a moment Yulia sniffles, "So I'll just keep practicing and become the best healer of all time!"
<Mari> "Yeah, we kind of are, but we're responsible for our own mistakes. You can't fix everything, you can't prevent everyone from doing something stupid forever. It's just...Listen, Yulia, I know all about putting on a happy face and just ignoring your problems. It doesn't work very well."
<Kotono> That gets a momentary flinch from Yulia, "Well I can do something about it! I just have to!"
<Mari> "But you can't do everything! You're going to kill yourself or worse with this super heroic act, I just know it. And you're my friend, so I don't want anything bad to happen to you."
<Kotono> "I can too! I'll study hard enough so I can fix everything!" Yulia's voice raises into a hectic cry by the end, "It's not fair that all these terrible and disturbing things happen to us!"
<Mari> "I'm not sure if you're lying to yourself or me, but I don't think you'd be so upset if you hadn't just realized you were doing it! Life isn't fair! It's not fair that my parents got killed and it's not fair that they dragged my sister to Baator. If you want to fix anything, you just have to take it one day at a time. Alright? Just slow down a little, please!"
<Kotono> "Why?! Maybe if you'd been stronger back then it wouldn't have happened?!" Yulia blurts, before sagging int he air. The little courre deflates completely, "Just...I..." she fumbles, "That isn't what I meant! I'm just so scared, Mari! Everything out here isn't like Arborea at all, but not in a fun way! So many people are greedy, mean, vicious, there's so much violence too! I have to try and fix things! I just have to!"
<Kotono> so much violence too! I have to try and fix things! I just have to!"
* Mari has to resist screaming I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD. It's not about her right now! "I know, leaving home is scary. But you're not alone out here, okay? You don't have to fix everything *by yourself*, right? And you definitely can't do it if you worry so much you give yourself a heart attack. If courre even have those. Just slow down and relax a little. You're not going to change the universe in a day! Just focus on what's around you?"
<Mari> you?"
<Kotono> "I just..." Yulia's words break down as she settles down to the roof. She starts to sniffle, "But if I don't Master might die again!" she wails, "Or Kamvakua, or you or Adail or someone else!"
* Mari sits down next to her. "Well, uh, that happens to all us mortals sooner or later," she says, sounding awkward addressing the prospect. "But we all watch out for each other, right? You're not the only one. So we'll both watch Nik and tell him next time he does something stupid and eventually maybe he'll learn, right? Just don't feel like *everything* is your responsibility alone. It'll kill you, thinking like that all the time."
<Mari> all the time."
<Kotono> The little courre sits heavily down, sniffling and crying. It's only a few tears, pushing them back and wiping them away. "But what about you? You drank that potion! You have to have people help you too!"
<Mari> "Yeah, well, uh. You see. The thing is. It was kind of a slow day, and I figured..." Mari shrugs and gives up. "Look at it this way: next time I won't do that without knowing what it does. Probably."
<Kotono> Yulia looks up and sighs, "Mari, I'm sorry." She looks down, "I...just when I hear things like that or see things like that, I just know I have to make them better! You shouldn't be suffering! All of you were so cool and heroic when we first met! I thought this would be a fun adventure, like a bard's tale!"
<Mari> "Adventure sounds a lot cleaner and safer when you're not in one. Most of it's actually running around in constant terror and fear for your life. I mean--lots of things that sound nice in a song are a lot more complicated when you're in the middle of it. Even heroes were normal people once who screwed up and did stupid things once in a while! I think so, at least."
<Kotono> Taking a long breath, "I guess so." Yulia looks down, "Can I be alone for a while?"
<Mari> "Yeah, okay. Sorry if I bothered you, Yulia, I was just worried. You can always talk to us whenever there's a problem, remember." She stands up and drifts away. Back to the inn. She could really go for a drink after this conversation. Of the non-magical variety, of course.
<Kotono> As Mari goes, she can hear Yulia call, "Thanks...!" like a little whisper on the wind.