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BloodRust - Iron Frame Regulators (Skeith Takahata II & MessedupRp

Colette felt the color drain from herself and felt fairly sure it could be seen as well. She glanced from the airship to the soldiers as the realization of what was happening dawned on her. She shook her head and slowly turned her horse around. She kept the trot slow hoping that she wouldn't be noticed.
 
As Colette turned to leave, Sarah walked briskly after her. "Colette? Where are you going?" She kept trying to follow only to be stopped by Velvet. "What? Look, She's leaving!"

"Sarah. We can't force her to stay and fight. We each have to find the reasons why we fight as individuals. She might have no drive to fight anymore."

Sarah looked up at Velvet, feeling her heart sink. She looked back toward Colette as she continued to trot away. "Coward..." She mumbled before head towards one of the shuttles to carry her to the Arturia.
 
Sarah tried to shut out Sarah's voice, she closed her eyes and saw the phantom memory of that day in Fenicia all over again, but this time it was different. She was the savior and Violet was the one about to be killed by the iron skin.

Colette sighed, "I am going to regret this won't I" the horse snorted it's assent and she turned around. Trotting at a quicker pace towards the airship. She hoped off the horse as the platform began to rise and clenched her fists, Colette idly stroked her horse's mane as they enter the zeppelin. She was trying her best to hold back her feelings as the noises from that day crescendo into her head.
 
As Iron Fortresses go, the Arturia was on the smaller size. Even still, for one who had never seen one, she was still a gigantic aerial vessel. The Arturia was of Azelan make, and flew said nation's flag, despite the numerous nationalities that currently served among them. It carried a crew of approximately 2,500 including about 150 officers. The vessel carried roughly 30 aircraft and 15 iron frames when full loaded.

Colette's horse would have been taken to proper stables on board while she would be assigned a bunk in the women's quarters, meaning she would be bunked near Velvet O'Keefe. Sarah, on the other hand, stayed with the other civilian mechanics away from the soldiers.

It would be at least a week before Velvet would be cleared to leave the medical bay but still not cleared to operate an Iron Frame yet. Sarah would have spent that week trying to repair the damaged Iron Frames with the other mechanics. Heading toward the Estribadian front, they needed to be ready.

Velvet would be in her bunk, reading a book from her native home of New Estribad. Meanwhile, Sarah was seated in her own bunk reading letters from home.
 
Colette didn't like Iron Fortresses, she never liked the before but she only stsrted liking them even less after the fall of her homeland.

She was closest to Velvet and chose to stay near her in the sickbay, reading over we shoulder and tapping her foot against the floor of the zeppelin. "Um... Sorry Velvet I just... Don't care for these things... Never have..." She looked around and wrong her hands together.

"Is it hot in here? It feels hot."
 
Velvet looked up at Colette when she spoke. "Don't be sorry. I understand given what you've seen." She smiled softly up at her. "New Estribad is an industrial nation. So, I grew up around shipyards and iron frames. They take some getting used to."

At her comment about the temperature she nodded softly. "I feel fine." Her hands fell to where Coltte was wringing her hamds. "Hey, are you okay? I know you're having a hard time with everything. I'm a soldier too."
 
Colette slipped her own hand into Velvet's and squeezed it, glancing at her. She closed her eyes and shook her head for a second. "You're nice Velvet, so I'll tell you this now... You can never really understand what I saw, unless you see the same thing. I wouldn't wish those memories upon my worst enemy and I would certainly never wish them upon you."

She sighed, "I'm sorry it's just... It's painful to recount and I hope that you never have to experience it. No matter how much experience you have, it never leaves you. The chaos, the screaming... the guilt." She had trailed off, her eyes took on a haunted look and her hands has started to tremble.
 
Velvet listened carefully as Colette spoke. As she spoke of guilt, her hand trembling in hers, Velvet's expression grew solemn. "I don't know the things you've seen or experienced, but I do know that survivor's guilt is common among those who lose their homes and everyone they knew." She squeezed her hand back, smiling sadly at her. "Perhaps you should spend sometime with the Arturia's medical expert. She's a doctor and a psychiatrist. She might be able to help you."

She closed her eyes for a long moment. Clearly disoriented. A nurse hustled over, leaning over Velvet for a moment who tried to shoo her away. "I'm fine damn it! Just a little..."

"Ms. O'Keefe you are not fine. You need to lie down and get some rest. Need I remind you that your head hit a slab of iron in that cockpit?" She looked over at Colette, with a defeated expression. "Talk some sense into your friend, will you? It's high time she took her medication and rested. We won't get very far if our top Regulator is down for the count." The nurse then walked away from the bed to check on other wounded.
 
Colette watched the nurse go, "what a terrible nurse. Just left you like this." She turned back to Velvet and put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm down Velvet. Just lay here and relax, when I see Sarah I'll try and tell her how you are okay? Just lay here and let yourself heal okay?"

She stood up and smiled, "I'll go see that doctor lady so long as you agree to stay here okay?" Colette smiled at her again and walked away, passing between the cots of injured and handing a few people things from their bedsides if they couldn't reach. She pulled a nurse aside and smiled meekly, "hi um... can you tell me where the doctor is? The psychiatrist?"
 
Velvet was a little surprised when she specifically mentioned talking to Sarah. Did she know that the two of them were... How long had she known? At the very least she didn't seem like the type to let it slip to others about her and Sarah's relationship. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." She reached for her pills and glass of water.

The nurse was more than happy to stop for Colette. "Hmm? Of, yes. Doctor Strauss's office is the next door down." She said with a smile, indicating which direction with a gesture.

Sure enough, the office door was the next in line. A metal plaque reading "Dr. Elisabeth Strauss" was posted at eye level. The woman inside wore a fine medical uniform consisting of a blouse and skirt. Over her chair was a white long coat with her name tag. Her eyes held an inhuman purple glow, making her nature as a vessel well-known.

Many, including several people aboard the Arturia, had a poor taste in their mouths regarding vessels. They possessed unspeakable magical power. Either granted by an Immortal Sage, or in her case, mutated at birth by chance due to close proximity to a rift. Being from New Caliburn, she had always known one directly above the independent city-state.
 
Colette walked in meekly, not because the doctor was a vessel, she had worked with plenty of vessels and had become very comfortable around them. They're outcasts, like her.

No, Colette was nervous because she was a doctor. She didn't know what to expect from this woman but she sat down anyway, "Um hello. I'm um... Corporal Colette Dubois, I-I guess my rank doesn't effect you does it. Um... I'm sorry, uh I was told you were a doctor and a psychiatrist?"
 
The woman looked up from her papers as Colette entered. Her momentary surprise was replaced by a warm smile. She watched her sit before brushing some of her blond bangs from her face. "Good afternoon, miss."

Following her introduction she chuckled softly. "You heard right. Yes, I am a doctor and psychiatrist. You seem to be in good physical health, perhaps a touch underfed, so I'm assuming you require the latter." She stood up and approached her door, closing the curtain over the window and locking it.

She returned to her seat, looking across the desk with a warm smile. "What can I help you with today?"
 
Colette looked around, "well um... I was there you see... Fenicia, and well... I guess I never really left." She clenched her fists in her lap and tried to keep going, the noises eere coming back, distant but legible in the relative silence of the office.

"I can still hear it sometimes, the gunshots and the bombs, the screaming's the worst part though. Everything else pales in comparison to the screams of someone seeing their family and their country riddled with bullets." She squeezed her eyes shut but couldn't stop from speaking. "I'm afraid to sleep at night, afraid to close my eyes. Because that's when I see it again, the first shot. The king's blood, everything's more vivid then and I can't seem to escape it."

She leaned forward, her face in her palms. "Sometimes when I fight, I hope I die... I just hope that if I doe then the scrraming will stop and I'll be able to have peace again. But I can't die, I can't die because I haven't completed the mission yet. I'm the only one left and nobody else can do this but me! and the only reason I'm alive is because I was a coward! Because I ran away and left them all there to be slaughtered!"

Colette broke into hysteric sobs, she had never told anyone about this. Especially not the mission, but she didn't care. She had bottled this up for a year and she couldn't hold it any more. It was like a crack in a dam, once it stsrted leaking, the rest just poured out.
 
Elisabeth listened intently, just letting Colette speak. She had seen patients like her a lot over the years. Her purple eyes glowed gently while she listened. Nodding softly when she finished. "It's okay. Listen, no one could have been prepared for the hell the Imperium unleashed. There's no shame in fear." She reached her hand across the table, holding it out to her if she wanted the support.

"It sounds to me like Post Traumatic Stress." She thought for a few seconds about what steps to take. "I'm going to give you a sleep aid and recommend you come back for regular counseling sessions. I also would like to try something unorthodox using my gifts." She smiled then. "I can attempt to ease mental pain when It's at its worst."
 
Colette immediately took Elisabeth's hand in her own and gave it a squeeze. "I could have done something, that's what I was trained to do, but I did nothing and people are dead."

She nodded at the suggestion of counseling and a sleep aid, at the mention of an experiment treatment using her powers, Colette nodded once more. "Anything that you think will help. When should I come back for another session?" She quickly wiped the tears from her face. She didn't want anyone to see her like this after all.
 
Elisabeth smiled sadly as Colette spoke. "Colette, you are one woman. Against the odds Fenicia faced a year ago, you would likely have been killed. I'll help you to tackle each of these thoughts and pains one at a time in our coming sessions." She sat up straight again, going into the desk to find some papers.

"I want you to come see me once a week for therapy." She pulled out a small vial and a box of very small syringes. "Now, this is your sleep aid. Inject it into your thigh each night 15 minutes before you sleep. Never take more than the instructions say and take it on a steady schedule. It should help you get your rest. Now, I want you to lay back on the couch there." She said, pointing it out. "We're going to try using my gifts to assist you today."
 
Colette was a bit apprehensive since she did say that this was experimental but she complied, laying down on the couch and looking sidelong at Elisabeth. "A-alright... Now what?" She tried to keep the nervousness from her voice.
 
"Please. Don't worry. It won't hurt." She moved around behind her head, kneeling down carefully. "Just close your eyes and relax." Very softly She placed her fingers on both of Colette's temples. Her eyes glowed a little brighter, her finger tips doing the same. The magic would cause a soothing sensation to spread throughout Colette's body. "My gifts allow me to manipulate the mind on a surface level. It scares a lot of people, but it allows me to ease trauma some." Just relax and let it wash over you."
 
Colette closed her eyes and tried to relax. She sighed and let her breathing become steady. She felt something soothing falling over her. Her immediate woes seemed to wash away from her. Her sadness pushed away... For now.
 
Elisabeth smiled as Colette relaxed. "There we go. Just let it wash over you. Let your worries and fears fall by the way side. Let it soothe and comfort you." She gently massaged her temples. "At any point this makes things easier for you to discuss, you may speak at your leisure. Or simply relax."
 
'I just said everything I haven't been able to say in a year. I'm.gonna relax." She responded, letting her muscles relax. While she was still unhappy about the issues, Colette felt moderately better.
 
Elisabeth hummed in agreement at Colette's words. "Understand I can't do this everyday. This is not a cure. Think of it as an anti-depressant. I will do this each time you visit and on the nights that you are at your worst. But the only way to progress and heal, will be through our regular therapy." She smiled softly. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for. I'll be here to help you find that strength again."
 
Colette returned a weak smile and got into a sitting position, shortly after standing up completely "thank you doctor... I suppose I'll be back soon." She stood up on shaky legs and left the room, heading back towards where Sarah was. She'd likely want to know about Velvet's condition.
 
Elisabeth smiled softly, nodding her head as Velvet left. "I will see you soon, dear." She returned to her desk, making notes of her first session with Colette. There would be many sessions to come before any real progress was made. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on one's point of view, Elisabeth had seen her share of patients with these symptoms. She knew the best methods to help them recover.

Sarah was sitting in the civilians communal bunks, reading over letters from home. Of course by now her parents had learned she'd run away to join up with the other civilian volunteers. She wrote to them regularly, but mostly heard back from her younger sister. She was reading over a letter from her, attached was a newly taken photograph of the family and the farm house.

She couldn't help but smile, even through her tears, at reading her sister's words. She carefully pinned the photo next to others beside her bunk, setting the letter down on the end table. She'd always been confident she would make it home before. That life would back to normal. Now she wasn't so sure. After facing the reality of war, her future seemed much less certain. Then there was Velvet. Sarah was in love with a woman from another country. She couldn't rightly ask Velvet to come back to Azela with her. But could she stay in Estribad for her? It was all so confusing.
 
Colette walked up to Sarah and smiled down at her. "Are you alright?" She sat down on Sarah's bed and looked at her, "Velvet's safe. She'll make a full recovery, they put her on bed rest but she'll be safe. I know you two are... Friends..." She carefully side-stepped the real relationship.

"So, how's home. I recognize a letter from home when I see one, where did you say you were from?" She wanted to take her own mind off the session she had just endured. Her thoughts were quickly returning and she wanted to get rid of them quickly.
 
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