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Kappa felt incredibly anxious. This wasn't some crazy thing since he often felt anxious even when nothing was wrong, but being back at this castle was really fucking with his head, and was also bringing up some not-so-pleasant memories from his past. They were memories he really was hoping would just stay buried, but here they were. Fucking with his head and making him shaky.
The witches and even Nee could tell something was wrong. He was often a bit nervous, sure, but he never really seemed this upset. Thankfully, he had just finished the first prophecy, so he had an excuse to take a bit of a break before going onto the next one. Mono was with him and she seemed really worried. Kappa reassured her that he was fine, but he was still incredibly shaky and occasionally just... Shut down, lost in his own memories
He was shaking so much and seemed super freaked out. Mono decided the best bet would probably be to take him to a dark corner until he calmed down. A quick little game of ink charades was able to communicate this to him, and he reluctantly agreed. He just wanted to fulfill these prophecies and get out, but he also was grateful that Mono was taking him aside since it was slowly but surely getting harder to breathe.
So, they went aside and sat in a dark corner of the castle that wasn't being watched by any of the rulers. The other witches saw though and decided to come over. By the time they got over to the dark corner, Kappa's breathing was quite shallow and he looked really freaked out. Mono just rubbed his back in a soothing motion, since she couldn't really give him any verbal comforts.
Mucku was gonna say something along the lines of "Hey, scary little man. What's got you feeling like this?", but Nethimir shot her a firm but gentle look as a message to not push him at the moment. Mucku immediately clamped her mouth shut, and Neth turned her attention back to Kappa. He was shaking violently and very clearly having an anxiety attack.
Neth wasn't very surprised by this. She had seen how shaky he was before they even went into the castle, but she was still concerned for him. She may put up a cold front, but she really did care about him. "Kappa?" She said quietly, attempting to get the beacon's attention. Kappa shakily looked at her, one hand over his heart. He was shivering so much, and his breathing came out in short, panicked gasps. And he was so fucking afraid. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this place had bad memories for him.
In a rare gesture of gentleness, Neth held out her hand, to which Kappa shakily gripped onto. "You're having an anxiety attack" Neth said matter-of-factly. Kappa just nodded in response, clearly still lost in his own thoughts and worries. Neth wasn't gonna give up, though. "Kappa, can you breathe for me?" She asked gently "If it will help, I can breathe along with you"
Kappa nodded shakily and Neth began taking loud, deep breaths, which the beacon shakily followed. It took some time and some struggle, but Kappa eventually was led back to a state of calm, curled up against Mono for something to keep him grounded. Mucku looked worried for him. They all did. Even Nethimir, the one known for rarely showing emotion, looked worried.
In all honesty, everyone (except those three demanding rulers) had been a bit worried for him the whole time they were there. He just seemed so freaked out to be back at that place. It clearly held bad memories for him, and Neth was now determined to figure out what happened.
"Kappa" she said gently, a quality to her voice that the others rarely heard. "What happened?" she asked flatly. Kappa took a deep, shaky breath and he mentally prepped himself to talk about it. Might as well open up he thought to himself You can't really act like it's fine anymore
"I um..." He started shakily, latching onto Mono a bit tighter. Mono allowed it and rubbed his back gently. She had sort of become an older sister/mother figure to him over the past few days (or however long they had been staying together). All three of them kinda had, and it was nice. Kappa had never had a real family before. Of course, he had Siren, but that was different.
"I had a prophecy here..." he said nervously "When I was younger, I had to fulfill a prophecy here and it..." he trailed off, tensing up a bit. "It was that bad, huh?" Neth asked solemnly, not wanting to push him for details. That was the last thing the man needed. Kappa just nodded in confirmation before getting up.
"Now" he started with a shaky determination in his voice "I still gotta fulfill these other prophecies" he announced, and the witches all exchanged a worried glance. "Are you sure that is the best idea?" Mucku asked hesitantly. They didn't want him to do these prophecies if they were just gonna bring up bad memories for him.
"I don't have much of a choice since they'll drag me back here anyways" Kappa explained, looking at the three of them with a bit of nervousness. "Just..." he trailed off again, trying to bring the courage to ask them for help. "Stay with me, yeah?" he asked hesitantly. Neth smiled (a rare sight) and stood up, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"We'll be by your side every step of the way"