Not found.

нє ¢συℓ∂η'т ƒιη∂ ιт, his rationality. No one undrestood what the error meant; no one as he sank to the ice-cold floor of stone and dirt, winding winding gone—crack. There were things that could be broken, realistically speaking, things were always breaking. They cuold be fixed but not all things could be. Some things would remain as it is,

lïkê this book

Some things would remain as they were, broken. Realistically speaking, human beings were fragile and, like the the wings of a butterfly, would tear, so easily, they would. Did anyone understand was what happening to him? FUNCTIONING. He wasn't. He searched and searched and searched dna noT FOUND. NO ANSWER NO ON

E KNEW WHERE

His rationality had went and Iolani Tori was so tired of doing things alone, by himself, that he could search no longer so he lay on the floor, curled up on his side. Not one person understood what it meant to be Iolani Tori even though they said they did because even the people reading this don't understand him at all he says; insane. HE did not understand why aftre so long and so many words they didn't then what would? How many more words? 404ER

He waits for them to notice that being human did consist of feeling all emotions, as they were, no avoidacne but that was not a L L. What of the mind that he had lost? First time, he could not think. He couldn't think—the book didn't allow him to there was an ERROR that the mental torture\\he could stand no more. Did they understand the sort of mental NO SELF PITY

Mental torture. He writhed on the ground and convulsed till he threw; up on the body he rationalityei gone tired, tried, of doing things alone by himself that he could search no longer so he lay on the floor, curled up on his side, and fell asleep beside the body.

BLANK

He was screaming when he woke. When he woke, he screamed still. No one was beside him except a table full of gifts and flowers. Sunflowers; the colour blinded his eyes and made them burn and ache. He noticed that nothing was aching except the heart, the creature in the cage, and the only reason he noticed was because his mind had been lost. The cage was gone.

For the very first time, Io felt the pain of his existence that tread inside, so very painful without reason because that was how broken he was. He had been breaking inside and he had not noticed; the burden on his back all-too-heavy for him to bear and yet he stubbornly did. What Io had not known was that his condition was deadly. It was fatal—Iolani Tori was, without his mind, the most fragile person in the world and yET HE CONTINUED TO BEAЯ A WEITHG THAT WAS NOT MEANT FOR ANY HUMAN TO EBAR

he noticed that the book was prone to a momentary lapse of error, which he understood was, as well, his doing. He'd undone himself, too. He was the cause of everything.

He attempted to regain his consciousness and will, struggling to create for himself a cage that could hold the most vulnerable monster that seemed so prone to its own destruction and nothing else. A turn of his head caught the odd light of a trinket next to his bed. It was a tin of cookies.

Attached to it was a note written by five names that he did not recognize until he read the words written under them. We are saddened to hear that you are unwell. Hope you feel better soon! We are eternally grateful for your selflessness. Thank you alway—

åååååååååȂ̷̢̨̧̟̮̩̺̞͎͓͎͍̳̋͛͘͘͘Ä̶͉͙̣̟͍́̈͗̈́A̷̡̲̲̰̹̩͉̝͔͋̾̈́͛̑̽̑͒̐̀̌̍̃Ą̵̻̠̟̖̤̹̣̯͖̝̳̈́̄͛̈͊̚A̵̛͇̯͙̪͙̹̯̠͔̹̔̀̔̊̒̈́͘ͅA̶̤͙̳͙͕͙̳̭͇͚̮̾̈̽̈́̋̌̀̅̏̀̑̎̿͌̒͜Ä̷̢͎̹̟̩͚́́͆̀͐̃́̈́͊́̀̂̿͆̀Ă̶̧̪̝̘̭̞͆̈̔͠

This was what Reux had been going on about. That he should live with the heaviest heart should he continue to be who he was; Iolani agreed. It was heavy now. It would be heavier in the future. In fact, the very next second, it already was.

Apparently, he had been screaming again because someone parted the curtains and entered as soon as he did. It was Luka.

"Io," he crossed the space and was beside him in an instant, taking him into his arms. "I'm here. It's okay."

The sparrow cried. "No, no no it's not okay Luka, what's happening? WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

Someone else came through the parted curtains and Luka pulled his friend closer on instinct. Mrs. Goldfinch took one look at the boy and told the eagle to close the other's eyes and let him lean against the headrest. "No, not like that! With a pillow—yes. I'll be back with medication. You keep an eye on him."

"Medication? Why would I need that?" He asked, turning to Luka with eyes that were wide and frightened. He did not know what to make of where he was without the cage. Without the cage, without the cage he was lost and he needed to ground

"You've been in a coma for almost week, Io," the golden eagle said to him, caressing the back of his head. "Vaughn found you on the floor of Reux's cell."

His mind had shut itself down from the error; the cage broken down into melted bars of gold, sizzling over the abyss, hovering in mid-air. "A coma?" Io shook his head. "I don't have a coma. I don't have one."

Luka was beginning to see that Io was far apart from himself. "Io, breathe."

Mrs. Goldfinch was back with benzodiapines, which she handed to the boy. "Swallow these and relax."

"Pills? Pills? I can't swallow pills—"

Mrs. Goldfinsh took the pills away from him and handed him a glass of water instead. "Alright then, drink some water. Drink some water and while you're drinking, think of your happiest memory, the most quiet and serene place you can imagine."

"Happy?"

åååååååscreamååȂ̷̢̨̧̟̮̩̺̞͎͓͎͍̳̋͛͘͘͘Ä̶͉͙̣̟͍́̈͗̈́A̷̡̲̲̰̹̩͉̝͔͋̾̈́͛̑̽̑͒̐̀̌̍̃Ą̵̻̠̟̖̤̹̣̯͖̝̳̈́̄͛̈͊̚screamA̵̛͇̯͙̪͙̹̯̠͔̹̔̀̔̊̒̈́͘ͅA̶̤͙̳͙͕͙̳̭͇͚̮̾̈̽̈́̋̌̀̅̏̀̑̎̿͌̒͜Ä̷̢͎̹̟̩͚́́͆̀͐̃́̈́͊́̀̂̿͆̀Ă̶̧̪̝̘̭̞͆̈̔͠

Frightened, the head nurse held him by his shoulders and told him to take very deep breaths. "Tori. You must calm down. Boy, what is it with that word?"

Luka commented that Io did not like it when people talked about happiness. Mrs. Goldfinch was stunned and very disturbed. "Well, then, what does he like to talk about? Let's give him a focus object. Breathe in, Tori. Together—let's count."

"In...one...two...three...four...out...two...three...four..."

"Better?"

He nodded vaguely.

"Alright, now let's practice mindfulness. Mindfυℓηєѕѕ can help ground you in the reality of what's around you and since attacks can cause a feeling of detachment or separation from reAlity—"

"mindfulness?"

scrEAMåååååååååȂ̷̢̨̧̟̮̩̺̞͎͓͎͍̳̋͛͘͘͘Ä̶͉͙̣̟͍́̈͗̈́A̷̡̲̲̰̹̩͉̝͔͋̾̈́͛̑̽̑͒̐̀̌̍̃Ą̵̻̠̟̖̤̹̣̯͖̝̳̈́̄͛̈͊̚A̵̛͇̯͙̪͙̹̯̠͔̹̔̀̔̊̒̈́͘ͅA̶̤͙̳͙͕͙̳̭͇͚̮̾̈̽̈́̋̌̀̅̏̀̑̎̿͌̒͜Ä̷̢͎̹̟̩͚́́͆̀͐̃́̈́͊́̀̂̿͆̀Ă̶̧̪̝̘̭̞͆̈̔͠

HE HAD BEEN MINDFUL MORE MINDFUL THAN ANYONE ELSE FOR SO LONG AND NOW THEY WERE TRYING TO TELL HIM TO DO IT HE HATED THEM HE HATED THEM ALL THEY DID NOT KNOW THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHO WAS MOST MINDFUL OF THEM ALL AND HAD SUFFERED THE RESULT OF SUCH

"Io?"

The canary's voice was muffled from behind the curtain as she peered past the gap, careful. "Io, is that you?" There was a strangeness in her voice, very much unlike the beams of sunshine that she often spoke. She noticed the silence.

"Is everything alright?"

Luka did not want to leave Io alone with Mrs. Goldfinch. The latter understood this at once and sighed before stepping out to explain the situation to Pipa.

"Io?" The eagle moved to sit on the edge of his bed. "Was it another vision?"

"Yes of me drifting against the current up a stream that is eternal—yes, it was." He cried softly as he spoke, looking up at his companion. "What happened to Reux? He killed himself, didn't he?"

Luka did not dare aggravate the wounds that were open and bleeding. He paused, quiet. "It...it wasn't your fault."

"It was it was it was it was it was it was my fault, Luka, it was," he insisted, falling back on the headrest with a shake of his head, tears streaming down his face. "He told me it was. He wanted for this to happen."

"He did, not you," Luka held him by the shoulders and for a moment, the act made him feel safe again—as though the creature within was back in its cage—but it disappeared as quickly as it had come and then, he was back to where he was.

The curtains were parted.

"Sullivan," Mrs. Goldfinch cleared her throat to get his attention, though his hands refused to leave Io's shoulders. "I'd like to speak with you."

He frowned, not liking the sound of anything that meant leaving Io's side. This urge, a flame that had burned within for the longest time, now burned brighter having witnessed a still and unmoving Io for more than five days. He'd waited to hear his voice, see his eyes and feel his warmth.

"It will only take a minute," Goldfinch emphasized, strangely urgent.

Pipa wheeled herself over to the pair. "I'll look after him." This, surprisingly, convinced the eagle more than the head nurse could have dreamed of doing. Luka placed the back of his hand against Io's forehead to check his temperature before adjusting his pillow and rising to follow Goldfinch.

"I'll be back."

Pipa nodded, and Io stared after his back. His eyes were different.

"I brought you some oat milk," she produced a white ceramic tumbler from her backpack and handed it to him. The surface was cold to touch. "Jiro made it. Slayne's wake is tomorrow. You must be well enough to attend it."

The nAME IT STRUCK A CHord but he willed it to be contained but what could be used to contain when the cage itself was gone åȂ̷̢̨̧̟̮̩̺̞͎͓͎͍̳̋͛͘͘͘

"Io?" He was still so she called his name and helped him pop open the lid of Jiro's tumbler. "Oat milk. Drink it."

It sounded as though she had given him an order; an instruction to follow despite the lack of instruction inside his head for all documents were lost and all papers ablaze in ruiηs. He took a sip of the beverage. It was chilled.

Slipping down the back of his dry, parched throat, silky and well-made, lightly sweetened, carefully brewed and prepared for a memory. RMEMBRE

"The carrots were bad, weren't they?" She asked out of nothing, staring back at him with a knowing smile.

The carrots were bad the carrots were bad the carrots he hadn't eaten any carrots when was the last time he ate any carrots—RAW. The word screamed in his mind like a distorted memory attempting to find its way through the error, amidst the darkness and the lack of ground

"I've always thought they were raw," she laughed and he did too, bursting into breaths of mirth, loud and slightly uncontrolled but he was crying, crying still for the pain was still there but there was, along with the pain, a spark of joy.

"Don't laugh and cry at the same time!" She lifted herself off the wheelchair and crawled onto his bed. "Haven't you heard? You'll get butthair if you do."

FOUND

He'd found what he had been looking for with the help of a friend this time, just like he did for her, the last time. He cried so hard that his cheeks hurt but he was so glad, so glad that the cage had returned and the memories were back and he could remember it all and walk the path that was hard;

"I wonder who told you that." He laughed quietly,

carrying on his back

the most deadly burden

_______________________________

A/N: Why were they confused? Did they understand the chapter? Did they understand what the question was? She didn't know