GoldenCat/PickingUpPeices
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The Curtain Closes
The splinters of the Emerald Frog Idol fall to the ground, the vines and the miasma vanishing into thin air... the spirits and humans now free of the Lunar's spell, they fall to the ground, weak after being so sedated, the humans more than most elementals...
Falling Dusk, angrier than ever, calls for his guards to take Daom away, to hold the elemental to wait for trial... and to place some semblance of order in the Theather once again.
Alexsei: "We are sorry for the disturbance, Falling Dusk, and I dare hope that there was not too much damage done..."
Alexsei turns to the visibly angry god, catching his breath in the aftermath of their combat with the Chosen of Luna sent to take their lives. Of course, none of them were taken, and Cael had dispatched the agent before it managed to get away - but now some more questions and pressing matters needed to be solved.
"I hope it is not the case but... If any of your people have fallen, however, dear host... I can attend to that, and make sure their passage goes smoothly, and without chance of desecration..." He eyes the god with gentle sorrow in his violet eyes, then bows his head slightly.
Falling Dusk: "There are." He answers as two of his servants come and chackle Daom. "Where that... thing was." He looks at the splinters of the toad-idol. "The Lunar had to kill all those near it. He killed ten of my mortals... only a few of them guards My home is so crowded with those Melody and others saved from Whiteshield... and not even here was safe for them."
Jungen: "A small price to pay..." the young spirit proclaims as he floats back down from the ceiling, where he had made his place since the battle began. Keeping out of the way had seemed the most prudent move to make. Now as he descends, the thaumaturgic god snuffs out the green flame engulfing his sword and dispels the shattered remains of his hastily fashioned wards with a wave of his hand. "It is a mortals place to die in our service. No doubt it would have been more had creature had it's way, though." Leaning towards one of the broken walls, Jungen cautiously prods a rapidly dissolving vine with the tip of his blade. "The spell seemed more a means to disable us and make easier prey of us than to cause direct harm in and of itself no doubt it has made a mess of the decorations however."
Ryshassa: Ryshassa breathes a sigh of relief as the glamour fades away, straightening and stepping away from Anne whom she has just recently patched up. She turns away from the girl without another word, still irritated without reason at her reaction to her concern. I must be truly shaken -- allowing such petty behavior to grate on my nerves. Anyway, she will live. These others...
As Daom is roughly escorted away and Falling Dusk continues to bark orders, the healer moves towards the closest human lying within sight, and rests a hand upon the tired, bewildered victim's shoulder. Her eyes are already scanning for any outward signs of damage as she murmurs -- more soothingly, again, assuming once more the mantle of caretaker and professional -- "How are you feeling? You are safe now, but if you are hurt, I can help you..."
A frown briefly mars her features at Falling Dusk's comments. Crowded? People from Whiteshield, here? And they have already suffered so much... She commences her examination of the nearby victims, her posture and behavior benevolent and soothing, hoping at the very least to ease their nerves and disorentation...
Cael: "I offer my deepest apologies for leading the attack here here. The attack was aimed primarily at capturing me, and had I not been here, those people would have died." he says with sorrow and a respectful bow, to Falling Dusk.
"I will want to speak with Daom later if I may? I think I already know who turned him, but I would like to know why. And how."
Alexsei: Nodding solemnly to Fallen Dusk, Alexsei's features become a mask of mourning as he prepares for the tasks ahead. "If I may then, sir... I would gladly see the departed ones, so I can prepare the bodies... If their immediate families are present also, a word with them would be a good thing."
Falling Dusk: His hand goes to his face, closing his eyes for a moment... "Well.... not as bad. Thank you, Jungen. But I still feel responsible for them. This is my domain, where my charges should be safe."
"You are forgiven, Cael. They would probably come sooner or later anyway. And I have to be ready for them to come once again... and yes, you may. I hope your abilities can find out useful information."
The god takes a moment, shakes his head, his stars making a crystalline chime... feeling all of his land again. The chime goes through all in the room as they feel his awareness enveloping his home... "They are in the third tower, to the East, Alexsei. And I thank you for caring for mine so. I will have the familiies warned. At... the base of the spire, amidst the gardens, we have a graveyard... I would prefer if they were buried there."
Mortal Woman: The human, a middle aged woman, opens her eyes to look at Ryshassa... groaning something. She is... clearly dizzy, probably with srong migraines, and weak. But nothing severe, nothing that some time sleeping will not cure.
Jungen: "Hmm..." the spirit murmurs distractedly as he traces a finger along the shattered torso of a statue and flicks off a bit of bloody rubble. He holds up his crimson stained finger for closer examination, rubbing the droplet of blood with his thumb, then shrugs and dissolves it into a puff of deep blue smoke.
"Safer here than anywhere else." He continues, dusting off his hands as he spins back to Falling Dusk. "Had it been anywhere else and in most any other company, they'd all be dead. The living are bound to be counting their blessings that they are still, not bemoaning their losses. We did not fail them, here."
Alexsei: "Your wishes will be followed, my lord... As well as any particular wishes the families might have for their loved ones." He takes a deep breath, smoothing over his robes as he starts to head in the direction indicated by the God. "I shall go attend to my given duties, if you don't mind." Turning to his wife, Cael and the young prince, he readjusts his glasses before tilting his head to the right. "We have much to discuss, majesty, Cael and Ryshassa. I shall meet you back in a few hours in order to expose about some things that will no doubt be very important for our future... Please take care until then."
Focusing his mind on the ornate ring on his finger, Alexsei's eyes turn to his wife, already trying to see to the afflicted mortals who were unlucky enough ot get caught in the glamour. I will go about my duties now, belladonna... Please kee p me informed if anything is wrong or bothering you. I stay with you in thoughts, beloved...
With a soft smile and a nod in her direction, the funeral priest heads out of the room, towards the people needing his peculiar abilities.
Falling Dusk: The god watch them take Daom, then walk over the broken glass and wood on the ground of the room, up to the broken window... overseeing his lands, and the dark-blue sky... only a line of fire in the corner of the horizon. Dusk had fallen. "Yes... you are right, Jungen. I suppose I have been too hard on myself. Thank you, Jungen... I have always known you would help me so. And it shows how you are a god of reason and I am not!"
"But we need to be more prepared next time. Can you make better wards for us? Some that cannot be easily desecrated even for those who know of it?"
Cael: Cael raises his eyebrow at the cryptic comment from the cryptic man, but nods his head "I will see you in a few hours then, Alexsei."
Cael walks over to Anne, checking her over, before turning to Ryshassa "Thank you for tending to Anne." Cael says with a grateful smile in her direction, then a slightly chiding look at Anne for not thanking her herself.
Anne: "Yeah. Thank you!" She says, a little angry still, but trying to be nice. She was not angry with Ryshassa, after all... more with herself. More with everything..... she goes to Cael, holding to him, whispering a 'sorry'...
Alexander: "You saved them, Falling Dusk... you found what we could not, and destroyed it." Alexander says, sheathing his blade and walking towards the god, watching the sunset with him. "And now all others are alive to see this. You did well. You all did." He smiles at them, glittering motes of sunlight still around him even after his anima has faded.
"Right... let us, Alexsei..."
He looks at him.. curious.
What he had realised then?
'The past will destroy us all, was it?'
Why do I know it has to do with you, Moranine...?
Jungen: The young spirit snorts, lifting into the air with a slight tilt as he stares down at Falling Dust so that his eyes peer straight down the length of his nose at the elder god. "My wards were not 'easily desecrated' last time, mighty steward of secrets. There is much which can be done to keep the unwanted out. Less so to stop those who are already inside from destroying your hard work..."
"…all your hard work" he adds, his sharp face softening slightly. Jungen hesitates thoughtfully before speaking, his tone nearing sorrow, but trying to sound speculative. "I perhaps wonder if it would not be best for me to attend to my apprentices and ensure they were not…" Another hesitation, then a slight cough before he goes on in a stronger tone. "Did not explode themselves in a moment of panic, as no doubt the thunderous ninnies will have the moment they awaken and begin to stumble about whatever remains of my lab. I will need any assistance I can get to reforge the wards, even help of their dubious variety."
Ryshassa: Ryshassa shifts her attention briefly from the patient under her care as Falling Dusk gives Alexsei his directions. For a fleeting moment, her gaze locks with hers -- "Be safe, beloved," she says as he departs, nodding shortly at his words, not questioning for a moment the sense of duty that drives him as surely as her own. They did indeed have much to speak of, once things were settled down.
And I love you... Her parting sentiment lingers in Alexsei's mind, as does a sense of intimate warmth and affection much like the sensation of an embrace.
To the woman, the healer murmurs, "Can you walk, at least? I can sense you are in some pain, but the best cure for that will be a good day of rest. I can at least ensure that you will sleep easily and well, if the pain troubles you so." She suspects the others must be suffering much the same symptoms, and would be best served by being escorted post-haste to their chambers, wherever they may be. "Falling Dusk... are there servants to spare who may help these people to their beds? The sooner they are resting properly, the quicker they will recover."
Ryshassa rises gracefully to her feet, ready and more than willing to help with the task herself. She does, however, acknowledge Cael and Anne's thanks with a respectful bow of her head.
Cael: He puts a hand reassuringonly on Anne's shoulder.
"Once you have checked on your apprentices Jurgen, and I have visited Calisara, I would like to speak with you a short while." He says as the forge god leaves.
"And I have a request to make to you Falling Dusk, again once your court is in better order."
Falling Dusk: "Very well. I will see you, Cael. Bring Calisara sometime... it has been a long while since she enjoyed our hospitality."
Jungen: Looking down at Cael, Jungen frowns out of his thoughts and adjusts his spectacles. "Speak to me about what, golden-one? It may as well be now rather than later. Out with it please."
Cael: "Of course I shall invite her." He says with an easy smile, "I would do more often, but I was not expecting quite such a length stay as this, and she does worry a little away from the Zephyr."
He turns back to the Forge god. "As you wish. I just wanted to talk with you about Anne, and her application to one of the academies at Great Forks. Your apprentices are much more important."
Alexsei: Just as all things are born, all things also eventually come to an end.
Quiet steps march the empty corridor, guided towards their destination by duty, conviction... and a strong appreciation for life, whatever form it was born in.
As such, all things are beautiful in their own rights. All things are important and meaningful, precisely because eventually all things - even us - come to an end. The fruits of creation are to be savored, for we do not know when it will be the last time...
He reaches the Tower indicated by Fallen Dusk, peering over the heavy door leading into the room where the fallen lay. Brushing their engraved surface, he pushes softly, passing the last boundary that separate him from the dead.
It is the natural cycle of all things. To be born, go on about their existence, and eventually meet their own end. However, just like our essence is reincarnated in another form, so are those who end reborn in another form, in another reality. This is the Great Wheel, the continuous cycle that has been true since the very beginning of creation - There is no end that is not also a beginning.
He steps in the cold chamber, where the bodies have been laid on their backs, drapes covering their bodies and the wounds that severed their ties to this life. Summoning Epilogue to him, the Chosen of Endings places it straight in front of him, closing his eyes.Filling his lungs with air, he then begins the movement of an intricate dance, a kata designed to send spirits on their ways to their next step in the Great Journey, and preserving their remains in this world so that desecration will not come to trouble their rest.
Yet, even if it is the natural order of things, departed spirits still need to be shown the way so they can attain the rest they have earned... Just like the living, the dead need guidance.In this final moment in our reality, they need to be accompanied along their path, so they do not wander endlessly between two worlds, and are rather welcomed by the protection of Lethe.
He takes each step gracefully, executing every practiced movement with all the perfection he can muster. Finishing the kata by returning to the same position it began in, he opens his eyes as he slowly hovers Epilogue over the fallen's still forms, opening his eyes.
"Be free of your worries, children of Creation. To the warm embrace of Lethe, I deliver you."
This is what it means to be Her Chosen. This is what it means to be me...
Jungen: "Ah, that again..." he sniffs dismissively. He lowers himself nearly to eye level with the Solar sky-captain, giving the young mortal by Cael's side a brief smile, then leans in close. "You'd almost be better off leaving her here with me than to ship her off to those self-important amateurs in Great Forks. Nothing but fumbling half-wits toying with merely the treads of the fabric of the universe."
"If your heart is so set upon Great Forks though, she already has her letter written to introduce her to those feeble-minded twiddlers. The only part you need play is to take her there" Drifting away like a leaf caught in a passing breeze, the thaumaturgic spirit begins to slide backwards along the ground, rising and shifting around the obstacles in his path as he heads back towards the door. But he lifts a fist before he goes, eyes blazing and voice hard with furious passion. "And teach her how to write and read on the way, blast it all! Characters! Numbers! Calculations and words! You cannot keep a proper log without the written sound! I will hear nothing of any child whom I recommend singing her damned incantations!"
Ryshassa: With the aid of a handful of elemental servants directed to the task, Ryshassa spends the majority of the rest of the day guiding the weary mortals previously ensnared by the glamour to rest. As each is laid carefully down upon beds meticulously prepared by gentle hands, the healer's tender voice lulls them to dreamless sleep, accompanied by the sweet, dulcet tones of her silverwillow lyre. The mellifluous chords ebb and flow with the comforting steadiness of the tides, banishing all traces of migraine and discomfort and replacing it with warm content.
Sleep now, and may you wake refreshed and free of fear and pain... A smile touches her lips at each time, coaxed by her song and the comfort of her presence, her patients relax and peacefully surrender to their body's desperate need to rest and recuperate. Her cool fingers pass gently over the forehead of each sleeping mortal, in turn, before moving on to soothe the next one, and the next, until all are slumbering soundly with their heads cradled in their pillows, safe and serene.
Cael: "Of course I shall. I've just been a little distracted in recent days with things more martial. And thank you once more for your letter of introduction. It is not that I have any qualms about placing her under your tutition, but I feel that it might be best if she saw more of the world than the chill of the North." He smiles at the god.
"I will let you get back to your apprentices now, I had best go and see how Calisara is, and to reassure her of our health."
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