[Miriam draws in a breath, releasing it in a sigh. It didn't quite help as much as she liked, but at least Sherlock's calm reaction helped. He wasn't responding with fear or revulsion, only an academic curiosity. A little concern, too.]
Some background may help; it's a little complicated.
[She pulled her sleeve back to reveal one of the rosettes of crystal on her arm; she taps it, and it rings hollow as glass.]
I'm what's called a Shardbinder; my power is derived from these crystals grafted to me. They themselves are fragments left behind from a fallen demon or supernal being that are drawn to the crystals already present.
The script around the largest of them was added later; it's meant to keep them sealed and prevent their further spread and corruption. Without them, the crystals would continue to grow until my body fossilizes. [Nevermind the mental toll they'd take.] And...for a time, the seals worked as they were written. Most of them still do.
[Here Miriam fell silent for awhile, steeling herself to proceed. The new crystal lay inert and dull on her collarbone, yet felt heavy and cold as a burdensome stone.]
But the demons within my crystal and those outside of them are always trying to claw control to themselves. For a moment, in the Abyss...one succeeded.
[She'd managed to wrestle it into its bindings in the end, but the damage had been done--to her psyche, and the friends who'd been hurt by her power.]
no subject
Some background may help; it's a little complicated.
[She pulled her sleeve back to reveal one of the rosettes of crystal on her arm; she taps it, and it rings hollow as glass.]
I'm what's called a Shardbinder; my power is derived from these crystals grafted to me. They themselves are fragments left behind from a fallen demon or supernal being that are drawn to the crystals already present.
The script around the largest of them was added later; it's meant to keep them sealed and prevent their further spread and corruption. Without them, the crystals would continue to grow until my body fossilizes. [Nevermind the mental toll they'd take.] And...for a time, the seals worked as they were written. Most of them still do.
[Here Miriam fell silent for awhile, steeling herself to proceed. The new crystal lay inert and dull on her collarbone, yet felt heavy and cold as a burdensome stone.]
But the demons within my crystal and those outside of them are always trying to claw control to themselves. For a moment, in the Abyss...one succeeded.
[She'd managed to wrestle it into its bindings in the end, but the damage had been done--to her psyche, and the friends who'd been hurt by her power.]