Her eyes began to ache, but turning away became more and more difficult the longer Rhukana stared. It wasn't any less distressful for her. Almost immediately she developed a headache, the solar visuals boring into her head; her eyes eventually began to bleed. Time drew itself out, and a moment became an eternity, but she saw what she was looking for -- mere microseconds before the pain became unbearable.

The entire event took no more than ten seconds.

With a hiss Rhu pulled away, slamming her hands over eyes as she tried to regain composure. Blood leaked through the bottoms of her palms, her breathing slowly returning to normal. Awkwardly, she scooted towards the edge of the circle and broke the power circle with her foot, a pseudo-audible *pop!* sensation of alleviating pressure echoing throughout the room.

When she moved it was to carefully make her way over to a sink set up in one far corner of the back room, splashing her face to wash her eyes out. "There is definitely a powerful force at work behind this," Rhukana commented, dabbing water away with maternal gentleness. "Perhaps another godlike being or a vast energy reserve. Whatever it is, it greatly outclasses anything I know of off the top of my head."

Her world was greatly dimmed, and a thumping migraine was settling in for the next day or two. She had to feel her way back to her seat cautiously, conscious that she looked awkward spreading her arms around like an epileptic mime. "This will require further research. I apologize, but while I have several theories as to what it may be, affirmation is necessary. Truly a most fascinating..."

With a cough, Rhu reassured Sol "I must say, this has been a most intriguing case. A curse inflicted upon a man-vesseled-star..." There was an edge of interest in her voice, even if her vision was refusing to cooperate.

"Yes, it would have been something I would liked to have known beforehand, and yes, my eyes are in pure agony right now. But the act of Seeing it was necessary to confirming its implications." It was taking Rhukana longer than normal to find her way around the room as she checked on various things, but she didn't appear as handicapped as she maybe should have been. The proprietor had given up trying to blink away the pain in lieu of simply shutting her eyes for the time being.

Still, her control over her agony wasn't completely solid, and she did let out a groan when she bumped an elbow into the edge of the table at one point; unbeknownst to her, that also pulled back her sleeve, exposing the unusual scaled skin beneath it. "My sight is no cause for worry; it will self-repair in due time. What is more worrisome is that blasted ailment of yours."

Muttering to herself, she felt around on top of the desk until her hands brushed against (and almost pushed off) the tome sitting in the center of it. Her mumbling turned venomous as she spat "I don't know which caused more backlash -- your native form, or that curse. But there is no denying its strength if such a thing can cling to your form for so long. It may even be using your very essence to perpetuate itself. Such astronomical strength..."

Reflexively her fingers rubbed above her brows, even though it made the pain worse if she strayed too close to her eyelids. "Reputation be damned; this is a most serious and int-- unusual case you have presented. I can understand that you may feel cheated when I say this or wish to rush the removal as soon as possible, but such matters must be given the proper amount of time to research and postulate. If I give the wrong answer, or an incomplete one... I'm sure you can imagine how disastrous those results could be."

Fumbling blindly for a moment, hands search for something that wasn't there, Rhu finally gave up and leaned against the desk. "Forgive me, I'm rambling again. Poor habit. Would you kindly direct me to my tome? Small-ish black book, clasp holding it shut, slight green tinge to the pages?"

Just like the book that was not even an arm's span from her grasp, perhaps? Her sight must really have taken a hit to miss it, as it hadn't budged an inch since the two entered the room.