Trapped

[Maeve]

The sun was setting on the horizon, its golden rays sparkling on the ocean like tiny diamonds. The glittering path of light shone brightly all the way to her feet, sinking a little bit more in the sand every time a wave came crashing on the shore. A small gust of wind lifted up her skirt and gently caressed her face as she closed her eyes to let the cool breeze ease her sorrow. When she opened them again, all that her sight was offered was the never-ending blueness of the sea.

Blue. Like his eyes…

Maeve stared at the endless ocean before her like she did every evening, secretly wishing for certain white sails to appear on the horizon. But she knew it was a sight she’d never see. Not from where she stood.

The beach she was on was from another realm, one that was slowly suffocating her. Maeve could feel the invisible chains tightening their painful grip on her freedom and the more she struggled against them, the more agonizing they became. She was trapped…

His eyes…Blue like the sea after a storm…

Like the storm that had taken her away that horrible night, so long ago. Maeve brushed the painful memory aside and gazed around her. Nothing but water and sand. Yet the whole world was before her, somewhere beyond the infinite sea.

But she was trapped…

[Master Dim-Dim]

Dim-Dim watched her sadly with a sigh as he walked down to the beach and touched her shoulder gently letting her know that he understands her pain and is doing whatever he can to get out of this place...though it was with out words of course.

"I know you are hurting Maeve and I'm sorry that I had to take you here so long ago but if I hadn't the storm would have killed you like it was meant to and then there would have been no hope to see him again"

He left it at that as he looked out at the sea and listened to the crashing of the waves against the rocks. this place was indeed like a prison but he was working on spells to try and get them back to the world they belong in.

[Maeve]

Maeve immediately sensed the presence of her master and gave him a sad smile as he approached her with his compassionate look. At the sound of his appeasing voice, she turned her attention back to the sunset, letting his words slowly dissolve in the waves. Maeve knew Dim-Dim was right, he always was. She managed to give him a small nod but her eyes wouldn’t meet his for they remained fixed on the horizon.

“Sometimes I wish you hadn’t saved me.” Her voice was close to a whisper, tainted with melancholy. “This place is worse than death.” She couldn’t tear her gaze away from the ocean. It was taunting her, tormenting her, torturing her…

[Master Dim-Dim]

He watched her and touched her shoulder again with a sigh

"I know you feel that way my dear and I am doing all that I can to get us back to the world we belong but it's not an easy task to do! I couldn't let you die Maeve you have so much promise and life still left with in you"

He wouldn't give up finding a way to get them out of this place as he too missed the real world and seeing Sinbad once more. This place was a prison to her and he knew that all too well.

[Maeve]

Maeve frowned at his last words and turned her head to him. “Is that so?” She didn’t believe in life…Not anymore… A year ago, she would have returned his confident smile to her mentor, caressing the hope that he was right and that everything would work itself out, but hope was a dangerous thing. It was never long lasting…Now, she simply couldn’t believe anymore…

Maeve slowly brought her gaze back to the waves and went on softly: “I failed at everything that I ever set out to do...” Memories of Dermott flooded in her head as well as flashes of Rumina cruelly arming other innocents. Maeve had been too weak to defeat her and even though her training was now completed, she didn’t feel any stronger than before. “What difference would it make if I went back to that world?” It wasn’t really a question since Maeve already knew the answer.

A year had passed…People change…

A thunderous wave came crashing at her feet...

Sea-blue eyes...

A year had passed...He had changed…

[Master Dim-Dim]

He looked at her with sad eyes as he gave her a hug and then watched the waves with a sigh. He knew that she felt trapped here and he couldn't change that. As she said this he shook his head showing her he knew she would be able to do more then she thinks.

"you are stronger then you think my dear Maeve and who knows maybe you will be the one to figure out how to get us out of this place"

He then smiled slightly again as he walked back toward the place they were living in as he had a lot to do.

(occ:should I have him reliese them? if not then just tell me when and I shall do so)

[Maeve]

Maeve returned the old man his embrace and let her eyes linger on his retreating silhouette. The redheaded sorceress could sense how terribly hopeless her master felt, and it just added to her own feeling of defeat. They were doomed…They had tried everything to get out, Master Dim-Dim was weakening day after day, and she wasn’t strong enough to break through the realm’s powerful and invisible walls on her own. But did she want to? Yes…for her brother’s sake, she had to…

Maeve sighed heavily and returned her gaze to the never-ending ocean. She just stared at it, silently cursing it as she desperately tried to clear her mind from all the memories flashing before her eyes. She could not forget…

A year…And his face was still vividly engraved in her mind…

She had watched him…and it had hurt…

To see him and not be able to touch him. To hear his voice and not be able to answer. To feel the pain and not be able to ease it. It was pure torture…

She had watched him…had seen the change…the boyish sailor she had once known was gone…

It hurt…

Not once had he pronounced her name and she understood why. She too, couldn’t bring herself to pronounce his.

She had seen the girls…It didn’t bother her…She was used to it…

She had endured all the kisses, all of them…

Except one…

After that…hope was gone…she stopped watching…

Maeve closed her eyes and a tear rolled down her cheek. She wanted to hate him. She wanted to so badly…It would make things so much easier…But she couldn’t…The only one she could hate was herself.

Maeve angrily brushed the tear aside and felt a sudden rage build up inside her. A fireball formed in her hand and she launched it forward at the sea with all the force she still had in her, yelling at the top of her lungs to let the pain out. The fireball exploded loudly in midair as it collided with the invisible wall surrounding the island. Breathing hard, Maeve fell on her knees, fighting off the tears that were threatening to fall.

She had been a fool… she had been weak… she had hoped...

[Master Dim-Dim]

Dim-dim saw the flash that the fireball did from the window as he sighed to this and looked back at the table he was standing next to. He then went to work on the things that he had to try and get them out of this place with a sigh. He knew that she was in pain and that made him feel sad slightly.

I will free you from this place Maeve,no matter what it takes

The thought came to his mind as he then sighed again and kept working hard on what he was doing.

[Maeve]

The waves kept crashing on the shore, surrounding her now miserable form in the sand. Maeve bit her lower lip to swallow back her sobs. She hadn’t cried a single tear for that sailor in the whole year she had been trapped here and there was no way she would allow herself to break down now. He hadn’t. She wouldn’t either.

The sorceress took a deep breath and slowly managed to get a grip on herself. By the time she felt steady again, the sun had disappeared below the sea and the only source of light left to shine upon her sorrow was the moon. Maeve let her eyes jealously linger on it, wondering if it was the same moon that was guiding the Nomad, somewhere in the real world...

Shaking her head and sighing heavily, she stood up and brushed off the water from her skirt. Why was it that all of a sudden, she was constantly plagued with old memories of the crew? She used to be able to brush those painful thoughts aside but since awhile, it seemed as if everything made her think about them. And even if she had all the will-power in the world, she simply couldn’t fight them off. Whenever she closed her eyes, she found his…

He was always there…keeping her heart in a cage…a cage Maeve found herself not wanting to escape from…

Casting one last sad look at the tormenting sea, Maeve finally turned her back to it and slowly walked to the place she and Dim-Dim were living in, leaving once again behind a wish that would never be granted…

[Master Dim-Dim]

Dim-Dim watched her walk back in as he sighed and kept working not wishing to make her suffer even more then she already was. It showed on her face really and that she couldn't hide even if she tried to. He also knew that if he was to free her it would be only her as he didn't have enough energy to send both of them back but he had made his peace with that fact already.

[Maeve]

Maeve entered the small house quietly, thankful for the darkness since it could mask her wrecked state. She grabbed a loaf of bread and sat down at the table where Dim-Dim was still working under the poor dim light of a candle.

Biting on the bread, she gazed around at the mess in the room: plates and dishes, food here and there, herbs, oils, conjuring bowls, magic books, candles…If Maeve had thought her cabin on the Nomad was a mess, this was complete disorder! But their little domicile was rather undersized so she and Dim-Dim had to manage with what they had, and that was three tiny rooms: two bedrooms and a kitchen, which didn’t look anything like a kitchen!

Gazing up at her mentor, Maeve noticed how tired and worn-out he was, beating himself up to find a spell that didn’t exist. If it had, Maeve thought sadly, they would have been freed long ago. The old man’s exhausted traits aroused sympathy in Maeve as she very well knew he was suffering as much as she was.

“You should rest.” It was a somewhat indirect command and the sorceress gave Dim-Dim a warm look, letting him know that she didn’t blame him for their captivity.

[Master Dim-Dim]

He looked at her and sighed to this slightly as he wipped his forehead and sat down with a sigh looking at her now as he too ate and dranki something.

"I know you don't Maeve but all the same I don't like to see you suffer so! I shall rest but then I must get back to work as there is much to do"

He then thought about how much he missed his wife as well and also those he helped raise. He wished to see Sinbad again but knew that might not be possible.

[Maeve]

Maeve shook her head angrily, furious at herself because of her obvious inability to hide how messed up she was inside. It was clear that Master Dim-Dim could see right through her mask and the sorceress could only now realize the burden of helplessness she was unfairly inflicting upon him. Nevertheless, she chose not to comment on the matter, refusing to admit that she was indeed suffering intensely.

Instead, she focused on the impossible task that the old man was forcing himself to accomplish in order to save her. “It won’t work.” She said calmly, casting Dim-Dim a sad look. “Whatever it is you’re trying to do, it won’t work.” She repeated, as if to convince herself that there was no hope, that they were doomed, that she would never see her brother again, that she would never gaze into sea-blue eyes again…

Looking straight at him and leaning forward on the table as if to make her statement clear, she added firmly: “Stop trying to save me.”

[Master Dim-Dim]

He looked at her and sighed to this slightly but kspt working all the same. He would do whatever it took to save those he cared for and that included her of course.

"you should know my dear that i never give up and I am not going to start now! We were put here and as such there must be a way out and if it's there I will find it! No need to be so harsh with me Maeve we are friends after all"

He then rested a bit as he took himself a drink and offerd it to her with a sigh. He drank his tea as he watched her and kept working again not willing to give in.

[Maeve]

Maeve held his gaze. “I’m harsh because I’m concerned about you. You can’t go on like this, Master.” Maeve slowly stood up to wash some of the dishes that were spread on the table to keep her hands busy. Though she was fuming interiorly, the sorceress kept a calm composure and a steady voice. She cared deeply for her mentor, the only person she had in this agonizing realm, and it pained her dearly to see him so drained of his energy. All for her.

“You’re searching for a spell that doesn’t even exist. If there was one, don’t you think you would have found it by now?” She turned around to face him.