Faint Dead Away | OPEN

[provenworth]

[As much as Elena did not mind going out of doors to run an errand or two to get out of the heat of the office, she would have preferred that it didn't happen in the peak of summer when little to no AC was available. Because she's sure that one day, when on the way to pick up lunch for the team, that she's going to melt into a puddle and that'll be the end of her.

And she's suspecting that its the heat that causes the first signs of a headache to show. A dull, achy throb at her temples that increase over the span of a few minutes before spiking, shooting up to the top of her head. It forces her to stop for a second, eyes closed, her head giving a little shake as if doing so would make the pain go away.

It doesn't. But it decreases momentarily and she's off again, weaving through the thin crowd. Edge was growing, she noted. Good for business. Good for the city, too.

Another wave hits her, accompanied with a thick layer of dizziness that causes her to nearly trip over her own feet. Her body leans sharply to one side, as if to dodge some unseen punch, feet twisting beneath her, and she's walking backward a few steps before she stops, a hand pressed against the nearest building for balance. This time she puts a hand over her eyes, fingers and thumb pressing into temples to ease the ache that doesn't quit.

She needs shade. To get out from the sun's incessant heat. And she finds it between two buildings, promising a respite from the heat and the headache. Except it doesn't. After only a few steps into the wide alleyway the dizziness returns and with it a sudden lightheadedness that comes with such a force that she totters sideways, shoulder hitting into the building on her left. Hands shoot out, looking for something to grab out of reflex, but she's in the center of the alley in a lazy half-spin trying to turn around, trying to orient herself. Brown eyes roll back up into her head before she falls backward, her head hitting the pavement with an audible 'crack'.

Here lies another victim to the random fainting spells.]

When fainting, try not to lose your head

[lookingforhead]

Celty had been doing her best to adjust to her new life in Edge. It wasn't easy, but little by little she was managing. She missed Ikebukuro, but she trusted the WRO that they were doing their best to help her out. After the initial confusion when they found her, they had been very helpful in figuring out why things were the way they were with her.

Her powers were missing, as was Shooter, or at least they were extremely dulled. She could still use her wisps for minor things, but none of the larger scale manipulation she used to be able to do. Not to mention the color had changed from black to green. The running theory was that it was something to do with the magical nature of her body dealing with extreme exposure to the lifestream. She also was told that it was probably for the best, considering recent incidents and the connections people might make if they saw black shadows pouring out of someone's body.

But there were other changes too. While her body was working well enough as it usually did, it didn't feel as...durable as it usually did. She didn't care to test it but the occasional cuts she got took much longer to close. And then there was the heat. She'd had some bad summers before, and air conditioning was a blessing, but she still had a higher threshold than most humans did when it came to the gap between discomfort and physical danger.

She tried not to think about the heat as she went on with her work. After a few weeks of scraping and a touch of begging she managed to get a job with a delivery company and a motorcycle they were willing to loan her. It wasn't the Strife Delivery Service, she'd heard of that one, and she'd met its driver briefly, but this one was looking for someone who could help them compete with the blonde swordsman's business. Unaccustomed to human frailty as she was, the symptoms of heat stroke had snuck up on her. It's not like she had any headaches or thirst to go by, nevermind sweating. Before she knew what was happening she felt herself wobble, and with her the motorcycle began to waver as well. She snapped back to awareness just enough to pull the bike back up, skidding across a plaza and crashing into a fruit stand.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt...except the crowd was now gathering around a sight that was causing a fair few to panic. A woman in jeans and a black shirt and jacket laying a few feet from her crashed motorcycle, and a black motorcycle helmet laying a bit further than that. But the woman's head was nowhere to be seen.