awashlogs | Catch All for May!

[ A pause... and then she smiles.

Lightly: ] Have you ever lost control of yourself, Tristan?

[ Now it’s his turn to smile. ]

Indeed, I have. And I have died for it.

[ Oh, good. ]

Then you should understand exactly why it's better to be sealed.

Then would you prefer that I be sealed away?

[ You know where this is going. ]

[ Annoyed. ]

....I don't think our circumstances are similar.

But I was summoned as a weapon. I was brought back from the dead for the purpose of fighting for the living.

[ Though the circumstances being what they are, he might as well be fighting for the dead as well. It’s complicated… ]

Indeed, I am easily swayed by my emotions—I can even be manipulated against my will. And in life as in death, I am cursed to bring others down with me. Would you say then that our circumstances are not similar, Miss Mythra?

[ Putting it that way... ]

[ She shifts her weight from one leg to the other. ]

What do you want me to say? That I'm just going to undo my seal? [ She frowns, but she seems more tired than anything else.

It's been five hundred years under it, and she still hasn't quite healed. ] ...I... I'm not ready to risk it, when all I've done before is destroy. [ That's really not all of it, just how she sees it. ] The only good thing I've ever done was make... Pyra.

Truthfully, I do not know how beings such as we must carry on.

[ He’s lucky enough that his master’s a good person who wouldn’t use him as a weapon of mass destruction. But there’s no guarantee that it’ll stay that way for him forever. Not to mention that there’s still a lot about her circumstances that he doesn’t understand. ]

And yet…while I love Pyra, I also feel that depriving the world of you would be an injustice in and of itself.

[ Mythra’s gloved hand is pulling through one long lock of her hair past her shoulder as she listens, and when he’s done speaking, her lips remain in a thoughtful, if tired, frown.

Not being in the world... would be the greatest thing she could ever accomplish.]

...You’re really persistent, aren’t you? [ She replies quietly, at length, and steps forward. ]

You’re really making it tempting.... and hard to say no. [ Because although she can conclusively say that she should never have been stolen to the earth and awakened, the reality is that she discovered so many good things about the earth that way, that she learned to know what friends and family were, she learned to care, to love. She learned to be human, in essence, even if her role in her world involve none of those things, those people, or emotions. Meeting with others here because she wanted to is one thing, but only now does she realize that this is also dangerous, because she wants to meet so much more.

She wants to be there with others. But she can’t, she can’t. She gives him a small smile. ]

It’s dangerous.

It is a knight’s duty to undertake dangerous things—more so in the service of a lady.

[ Though he can imagine what the risks of that must be. No one would seal themselves away without good cause, and he’s seen firsthand the consequences of a weapon left to its own devices, its power unchecked. He remembers the Lion King—Artoria Pendragon deprived of her Excalibur and of the mercy of death. The destruction she caused—the destruction she caused him to wreak…

And that is why he cannot hide the sorrow behind his smile. ]

Indeed, I will help you all I can. You have but to wish it, for I love you as well as Pyra.

[ She doesn't know if she should admonish him for how cheesy his chivalry comes off, or praise it for always holding up his honor. She wants to point out that she's not weak that she needs a knight or someone's help-- but the truth is that she is.

She's gone five hundred years with nothing but herself to talk to, in essence. And neither of them had someone to tell them that it was alright to grieve, or to feel sad; she had no one to tell her that it was okay to stay, to remain. All of that had come from those here. They're fighting for her, she realizes, when she's the one who's holding up that wall of that idea that her existence must end. At the same time, they're the ones who are tempting her to tear it down herself so that she may stay.

She doesn't know what to do.

All she knows is that she never wants to hurt anyone ever again.

She brings her hand up to her chest. ] ...Friendship, bonds... love. [ "If you feel any of those things for me, I only want you to find a way to destroy me--" is what she wishes to say, but she somehow finds that she cannot say them anymore. She's changed, those bonds she has, have changed her. Dangerous, it's all dangerous. She feels like everything could happen all over again as it did five hundred years ago: those she cared about, gone.

.... ]

...Fine. I accept your help.

Ready for your quest, O Sir Knight?

[ There is still something of Pyra to her—or perhaps he should say that Pyra takes after her in certain ways? In any case, it is difficult not to compare, though in the grand scheme of things he still loves both.

And it’s…strange, how that love makes him feel just a touch more optimistic. He feels as though they can find a way out of her predicament. They just have to take things slowly—carefully. Learn from each other and see if a miracle doesn’t happen.

When was the last time he’d believed in miracles?

He smiles and kneels down before her—the very picture of a knight ready to receive the appeal of a lady fair, as in the olden days. ]

My lady, I am yours to command.

[ ...Architect, how she had hated how the humans had all this need for formality and ceremony back when she had first awakened. She thought it pointless, useless, a waste of time.

She doesn't think that way anymore of course, and as she watches him drop to a knee she's only reminding of how she hadn't appreciated something she rightly should have. There is a beauty to it, in all the unique ways each kingdom or empire upon the various Titans had their own little customs, how they all defined honor and bravery, how they all made their pledges and oaths...

She likes appreciating that diversity now.

She likes... being able to see him do something she once saw the humans in her world do.

She had done this with Addam, actually, because the people had insisted there be some sort of appointing ceremony to him awakening her. He had knelt before her, there had been an audience; she remembers the applause, how hopeful everyone had been for the both of them. Her hand raises slowly to her head as she speaks. ] I want you to....

[ She plucks out a strand of her hair, holding it between two of her fingers. Like a thread woven from the sun, it shimmers before him with the same energy of which she's made. ] ...Find me something in Chroma that is made of light just like this.

If you find that something... [ She continues casually. He's welcome to take the strand of hair with him, which he'll be able to keep in reality; or if not, she'll let it fall from her hand. ] Ah, who knows, maybe I'll become interested enough to make an appearance.

[ Tradition dictates that quest-encumbered women present themselves at King Arthur’s court in full view of the Knights of the Round, but he’s realized that traditions must also change. Women have more freedom now. Many of them can fight alongside men. They can embark on their own quests.

But this…a favor from a lady? This never gets old. ]

An interesting challenge, to be sure.

[ He reaches out to catch that strand of hair in both hands, cradling it close to his chest. It reminds him of all the treasures he’d seen scattered in the forest when he’d gone chasing after dragons not long before. That quest had extracted a brutal price from him—what would this one entail? Certainly, the treasures of the dragons’ hoard pale in comparison to that single glimmering strand of light in the palms of his hands.

And it weighs like a promise. ]

But consider it done, Miss Mythra.

[ She knows that giving him a quest is letting him play the knight, perhaps humoring him; that, too, is nod of respect from her to him, acknowledging that she accepts his help in this manner... Cliche or otherwise.

Additionally, the task that she's given him is one that she holds her doubts. If there is anything like it in Chroma, or if there is someone in Chroma he can find to create something just like it... She would be impressed, yes, but ultimately this quest is given to him to ask for time. Time to think about what he's said here (as well as the few others who have met her, all basically saying the same thing). ]

...Oh? You’re rather confident today.

[ Both Mythra and Pyra are derived from a divine, multifold-dimensional source of a perfect energy: Mythra is two steps down from that source, she is of light, and Pyra is three degrees removed, her energy cruder, mimicking fire. The both of them take the form of a woman. And Mythra is wondering, truly wondering if there is anything in this world that has energy and light similarly solidified-- or if not literally, then whatever poetic interpretation he comes up with to satisfy the conditions of the quest. ]

[ She’ll have plenty of time—even he knows that much. Something like this cannot be found or replicated so easily, or she wouldn’t have instructed him to do it in the first place. Whatever her reasons, however, he wholeheartedly believes in fulfilling this quest for her.

Even if…such things are beginning to anchor him to this world more than his master’s. ]

Should I not feel so emboldened at such a grave task set to me by a beautiful woman?

[ This is maybe too many of his favorite things happening at once, honestly. She won’t hear him complaining anytime soon. ]

Especially one so very dear to her heart?

[ One day, she decides.

One day she is going to kick his ass.

But today? Today she is too tired to be so tsun, and actually since she's meeting him this way, because she wants to, there isn't any reason to really be abrasive. She's moved a little past that part of herself, bypassed how fate had originally set her to awaken-- with fury and fighting-- by being here and willingly meeting him. ]

Careful.

[ And with that said, the world around him begins to fade, the light, the color, and the tranquil calm of Elysium beginning to dim, her voice growing more distant by the second. ]

Saying something like that, you really might win my heart anyways.

[ And he knows after everything he’s heard that this hadn’t been easy for her. After all, the last time he’d been in Elysium he couldn’t sense her at all. There’s more to this world and to the nature of Pyra/Mythra’s being than he realizes, but…

He can take his time with it. They all can.

And he’s still smiling even as that lovely, peaceful world dims away, the colors in his surroundings washing out to the dismal grays of Chroma, as well as the bright blue of his own home. ]

It is only fair. [ he murmurs ] You have stolen mine already.

[ Just wait. If he ever comes back into Elysium again, it will be the both of them that will greet him.

Pyra is standing there in front of him once more as if nothing had happened at all. She releases his hand and steps away from him, respectful. ]

...And that [ She concludes, quietly. ] is what I wanted to share with you.

[ He'll still have the strand of golden hair within his hand. ] Thank you.

[ He can see it glimmering in the palm of his hand as she pulls away. So that…definitely wasn’t a dream. And Pyra can summon up what appears to be a Reality Marble of her very own?

Interesting…but really, even that question can wait. He only cocks his head to the side at her thanks, smiling in amusement. ]

Whatever for, Pyra? It is I who should be thanking you for introducing me to her.

[ She has an exact answer for why she wishes to thank him. ]

Because you are... good, and helpful. And kind. Because you... you want us here, even if we feel it's dangerous.

[ It was a big leap of faith, actually, to introduce Mythra to him, to anyone here. There's a reason she's very selective to whom she shares what she can of herself, and it largely has to do with trust and how she feels the other person might react. And while she cannot always be certain that everyone she may introduce Mythra to will be so welcoming and take it so easily, she feels reassured that they met here. ]

She, I... We were lonely. [ Are still, in a way. ] And we're glad to meet you, finally, at last, and we value what you have to say.

[ Lonely…she was lonely? He can imagine why, and he feels a pang for her. To have kept herself hidden away, as the maidens of old are often locked away in lonely towers, awaiting their rescue…

How long must she have had to endure this? ]

Then…you must also realize that I love this world because you are in it.

[ Echoing what she’d told him at church not long ago— ]

And now…I can truly say the same for Mythra. On my honor, I will make it so that neither of you need ever lock yourselves away again.

[ Hey eyes flutter open. That's her line....!

But then...

A sigh. On my honor; it sounds like he's making another oath to her, whereas she hasn't given him any such promises in return. It doesn't seem fair. ]

...I'm not a princess. [ She replies at last, softly, perhaps tiredly. Not in a bad way, but in the way that he is getting through to her. She is accepting that she can't do this alone, that she needs help. ] ...So on my honor, I will... accept. [ There. ] I will accept help... from being "rescued" from my tower.

Catch All for May!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject