[6:30 PM] LadyDeme: The stone of Florette's central keep radiated cool down the back of Delphine's head as she slumped against it, letting the castle bear her weight for a moment. She'd just finished tending to Persephone and Shanoa's wounds, as best she could -- both were stable for the moment, and she'd headed to an inner courtyard, away from the bodies and blood.
She'd killed someone today. She'd -- She tried not to think about it there. But that'd been her resolve... Whatever it took. She took a steadying breath, and tried to remind herself: the reason she'd made that decision was something that had held true, hadn't it? After all...She'd managed to free people who'd needed it. She'd managed to help free her nation. And...
Where had Maurice gotten off to? Delphine lifted up her head, glancing about. Though, now that she'd headed to the courtyard, he might have lost track of her. I could make this an old-fashioned game of hide and seek... But let's give the guy a break. She drew herself up, taking a breath to square her shoulders, and put back on her smile to start looking.(edited)
[6:49 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: After a few moments of being alone in the courtyard, Delphine would be welcomed with a familiar call from across the place, still obscured from sight because of some structure, "Mistress! Young Mistress, where are you? You can't just go running off like that!"
Just as protective as always. The voice got louder as he approached.
[7:04 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine chuckled, her heart so relieved just to hear that that it felt like some bundled-up stress releasing in her, catching her throat with that chuckle. She pushed herself off the wall and headed towards the voice.
"That's rich, from a man who decided to walk across a live battle unarmed," Though, it was only this time she'd done really much different. Still, scolding him in return brought a familiar laugh in her voice, and the smile on her face was warmer and more sincere. She walked towards the courtyard's entrance, into view.
"I'm only getting a moment of air. Would you like to join me? It's far better than a musty prison cell."(edited)
[7:34 AM] Mappy | Best Dog: Maurice nodded, "Ah, yes, of course," as he headed over to chat with Delphine, not paying much mind to her little jokes, even if they were somewhat true.
He takes a moment to take in the scenary of the beautiful courtyard, somewhat spared from the Ethysians' wrath and violence.
"How have you been, young Mistress? Its been quite some time since we have been able to chat like this. You must have done something eventful or inspiring since we last met."
[8:24 AM] LadyDeme: The courtyard seemed about as far-removed from the leftovers of battle than anything. But looking closer, you could see the gaps of things: much of the maintanence normally done like this hadn't occured, and so the path was strewn with the runners of groundplants, the perrenials had gone to seed, and so on. Still, it pushed onward, and she was glad of it.
"I've been... Busy. I don't know about inspiring; that's hardly something you can determine by yourself. I've been inspired, if it helps... But eventful. Well." She shrugged expansively, as if to say that the world itself was eventful, and here we were. "I certainly wasn't interested in lounging about uselessly and waiting for it to blow over, as you might have wished."
It was perhaps a bitter comment -- she felt bitter about it, at the least. Bitter and thankful -- and only now, less scared. He didn't
"So here I am, healing people and staying the hand of death and -- and going to war and planning to assault literal demons. And I'm just getting started. It's certainly eventful."
It was a little much, and she changed the subject to keep from getting overwhelmed in the moment. She'd been all over the place, emotionally, in the last few hours. She gently rested a hand on the older man's shoulder.
"Are you well, for your own part? It must have been...impossibly hard."(edited)
[9:01 AM] Mappy | Best Dog: "I'm merely glad they didn't kill me, Mistress. While being stuck in that cell for quite some time with people I didn't even know was lonely, saddening, and torturous, I pulled through. I've just been so very relieved to see that you were safe..." Maurice said, calmly yet also somewhat solemnly.
"Though, I would love to see the current state of Amarana..."
[11:27 AM] LadyDeme: "Likewise. I...I really had assumed the worst, for a long time now; that you'd have assumed your life to be worth giving for mine. So from the bottom of my heart...I'm glad we've hung in there this far."
She was not going to cry again; she was not. Besides, he'd only scold her, something-something, what if the prince came by, something like that. But she managed to hold it together, and focus on what came next. Delphine tilted her head, raising a hand up to her mouth. That... That was a hard one.
"I happened to have snuck off on our way here to get a look at the situation, actually. And it's about what you might expect, if you expect things to be bad. Naturally, the whole country's been damaged, and healing hasn't been on the agenda so far. The countryside seems to have recovered best -- though there's still damage, and people who were unquestionably pushed from their homes and farms."
She rattled things off briefly, trying to keep her impressions organized. Perhaps in another situation, she might have captured the sadness, and the hope of it, the feeling of everything, for memorial, for catharasis; but that was for later.
"The city's far worse. it's barely been given a chance to repair itself following the siege, and much of it was depopulated for.... For. One reason or another."
The feelings of the people were what struck out at her the most, and there she might have stumbled a little once again. She took a deep breath, looking out over the overgrown garden, her fingers twisting around each other in an attempt to capture a restless and uneasy feeling as her head dipped. Because she'd known... She'd known for a while now, how things had to be.
"I'm...Probably not. Going to be able to oversee more than the bare beginnings of what need to be done, even if anyone would want me to. Not for a while.I can run home for a while, but...This ended up being much grander than national security. And...I'm sorry for that. From the bottom of my heart."
[11:27 AM] LadyDeme: She knew how hard it was going to be -- and that the place, if anyone wanted her there, she needed to be was sharing that burden, bearing that weight.... But her people couldn't possibly be safe with a literal god of hate roaming the world. It was really that simple. As nice as it would have been to devote herself wholly to that, she simply couldn't. And this brought a little crack to her voice, a little break to her heart.(edited)
[6:20 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: "Ahhh," thought Maurice aloud, taking in what the young mistress had explained to him a moment ago.
"I suppose that's how things have to be, isn't it, Mistress? There's nothing much you can do about it - but please come visit home once more before heading out again? The people have missed you, milady, and there's something I must show you, if its still standing, that is, in the castle," he requested kindly of Delphine. He tried to speak convincingly but not forcingly, hoping she'd agree.
"Its something very important, perhaps even helpful to you."
[6:42 PM] LadyDeme: "Of course. Wild horses couldn't keep me away, and even if I can't stay for long, I really would like to be able to help for a while... I've missed everyone, too."
Delphine answered immediately, growing heartened again. She missed home too much, and missed them as much as they missed her -- well, they could quibble that later. Climbing an infinite staircase, as it were. But in the meanwhile... Well, either she'd have to ask Finn for the time. And if she failed to get it, find a way to take it anyway.
"I'll see if I can get Finn to either give me leave, or tell me directions to where we'll go next to catch up otherwise, or something... He's not that hard to sneak away from, after all."
She grinned, Before his next comment shook her from the scheme It was enough, at that time, to trust it. "Something important, hm? Very well. We'll cross our fingers it remains and see...Oh, if need be, we can probably ask for assistance bringing us home for a while from..." She almost broke into a cold sweat right there, realizing the monumental, if deeply personal, thing she had yet to mention. She'd been in such a fluster. "Oh, there is one personal event I perhaps ought to mention... My mother -- who's fine, if perhaps not a bastion of loyalty, by the way, if you were concerned -- had...a daughter before me. My sister's name is Rieze, and she's a member of this company." And also an Ex-Ethysian General, that's maybe a place for a moment's discretion.
She grinned, Before his next comment shook her from the scheme It was enough, at that time, to trust it. "Something important, hm? Very well. We'll cross our fingers it remains and see...Oh, if need be, we can probably ask for assistance bringing us home for a while from..." She almost broke into a cold sweat right there, realizing the monumental, if deeply personal, thing she had yet to mention. She'd been in such a fluster. "Oh, there is one personal event I perhaps ought to mention... My mother -- who's fine, if perhaps not a bastion of loyalty, by the way, if you were concerned -- had...a daughter before me. My sister's name is Rieze, and she's a member of this company." And also an Ex-Ethysian General, that's maybe a place for a moment's discretion.
[12:39 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: "She... what?" Maurice's face turned into that of extreme confusion and perplexity. He hadn't known this fact before, somehow, and is now unsure what to say - he had fully believed the young mistress was the only daughter in the family... does this mean he is to protect two mistresses now, if he is to meet this other woman?
[3:58 PM] LadyDeme: "Her name is Rieze...She can be... A little over-protective, so I think you'd get along," Delphine explained, ending on a bit of a chuckle running under her spoken voice. Until this war, she'd thought the same thing... And perhaps. But she noticed Maurice's dumbfounded expression and patted him on the shoulder to reassure him. It was a paradigm shift, but a personal one, not a proffessional one. Besides... Delphine probably wouldn't ask that to be inflicted
"This doesn't have much to do with Amarana's business, if you're worried about that -- as bunk as I find succession by birthright anyway, it's irrelevant unless a small bundle of rather fence-sitting Arcian nobles dies; she's my half-sister, born to Mom and her apparent secret first husband. What it does have to do with is... I'd like her to have a place to be welcomed in my home, if she wishes for such a thing..."
Delphine sighed a little, bringing a hand up to her chest. She knew Rieze was uncertain, as to whether or not she'd have a place after the war. And she couldn't make Rieze have such a place, or believe in such a thing. But... Everyone seemed hopeless, in the face of the devastation. Delphine focused on the grip of her hand, balled into a little fist. She wasn't sure how to do what she wished for, and for a moment, her face looked soft and uncertain, her lower lip curling up under the top row of her teeth.
"I'd like that for a lot of people -- not just in my literal home, but through Amarana. There's no value in a ruler with no people, or a town which cannot make its people welcome."
[4:14 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: "I see," pondered Maurice, reconsidering some of his earlier thoughts.
"Well, I suppose there's no harm in allowing her to come to Amarana, if it doesn't disturb our balance of power and succession. I do think I'd like to meet this Rieze woman before we make any desicions... though I guess I don't have too much of a say in this either way," he chuckled.
[4:36 PM] LadyDeme: "I'd be happy for you to meet her to put your worries to rest," She said in answer, grinning in total agreement... That she was, within the limits of good sense, going to do whatever she wanted anyway. It hadn't put what she'd said quite to rest, the concern that troubled her. But for now, she would act like everything was fine.
"I'm sure she'd feel the same way... Oh, and Viana tracked me down eventually, as well. She's doing fine -- had a bit of a scare today, so I can't say I'm not worried... There's a lot of other things that have happened, but... I suppose a lot of them aren't very relevant to our situation right now."
[4:44 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: "Ah, I'm glad to hear she's alright - she always was a little clumsy, wasn't she?" he smiled.
"Perhaps on our little trip to Amarana you could tell me about some of the adventures you've had, young mistress? I'd love to know what you've been up to all this time."
[4:56 PM] LadyDeme: "She remains so -- save when there's a bow in her hands and a life on the line," she agreed, with a nod. There was a moment's pause, a little uncertainty. And then she nodded.
"Before we go, there are people I'd like to make sure I talk to -- I don't know how long they intend to stick around. But on our way... I'll tell you the story of this war. I've even been making notes, in the hopes of composing one day an account of the war, so this'll be a good test run."
[5:34 PM] LadyDeme: Arrangements were made, and Delphine had some words with a few people, as well. Things didn't happen right away, and it took a day or two more for their plans to be prepared for. It was eventually determined that, given their route, it would likely be that they would head to Amarana only ahead of the Prince's army, not seperate from it wholly, and would meet them there. (Delphine was deeply, deeply relieved that Theron was remaining there, though given the security, perhaps he'd be safer with them? Well, whichever.)
And on the coach ride back, across roads in slight need of maintanence, Delphine told the story. The story of her exile in Arcias -- seemingly happy, wildly miserable. (She did not mention, so much, how uncertain and betrayed she was: only that she eventually decided...that a happiness like that would be wholly hollow, and a betrayal of them). She'd used his last birthday gift to her well, all the while (the chain, not the book on decorum.) And so, her resolve to leave it, and throw herself into war. Her initial sense of uselesslessness. The battle of the bridge. The terror of death. The certainty that she was throwing her life away that she'd had then.
And on the coach ride back, across roads in slight need of maintanence, Delphine told the story. The story of her exile in Arcias -- seemingly happy, wildly miserable. (She did not mention, so much, how uncertain and betrayed she was: only that she eventually decided...that a happiness like that would be wholly hollow, and a betrayal of them). She'd used his last birthday gift to her well, all the while (the chain, not the book on decorum.) And so, her resolve to leave it, and throw herself into war. Her initial sense of uselesslessness. The battle of the bridge. The terror of death. The certainty that she was throwing her life away that she'd had then.
[5:34 PM] LadyDeme: The beauty of the Celanthian beaches, and the taste of chocolate. Tropical flowers. Trying to protecy Clarke with her staff when the city was attacked. Being useless in the face of Avel, and watching his life slip through her fingers. Her friendships -- with Rieze, with Shanoa, with Persephone, with Lorenzo (There was a lot she said about Lorenzo, and for bits of it, there was a little flush to her, and a certain sad smile. She did not mention his troubles, not precisely; only that they helped each other, as best they could). Finding Viana again, and honing her healing until she felt, well, less useless... And then having this put to the ultimate test in Barentia, where much of the army faltered, and she was the last with a staff left on the battlefield. How terrible that was. And how she grew, in that time, just a little more wondering: whether she'd live through this or not.
The rebellion in Arcias. The beauty of tiny wyverns running across the rocky shore. Trying to hold Theron from running to his death... And failing, failing, failing. The whole cause of Arcias lost. All the effort she'd put in, useless, again. As the invasion failed. As Gaulter killed him. As Quira fell, outside the battlefield. As a man's love for his daughter proved worthless. And she'd decided that such a thing was unacceptable, and had taken all in her power into her own hands then, and managed to, through the grace of gods, restore him.
And how, to her mother, that had been meaningless. Learning the truth about Rieze (she told this slightly out-of-order; she spoke positively, then, of the two of them and Delphine's own uncertainty). That her mother had abandoned any show of support for her, in favor of not offending the Ethysians. Because to support a cause so lost would be worthless... Even if that cause was her own child. As expected, really.(edited)
[5:35 PM] LadyDeme: The countryside rolled by. She spoke of the Sage, and the truth of the war's origins. Of the battle for the bridge -- the tragedy of it for Persephone,The uncertainty for her home, gnawing at her -- the way she sought advice, and advised, Alexandra -- all the way from Arcias until this moment. The hopelessness of so many. Rieze's certainty there'd be no role for her to play, when war was done. Lorenzo's certainty of defeat. Persephone's despair and doubt. Shanoa's willingness to die. And the ruin of her home...
[5:35 PM] LadyDeme: "How am I to carry those thoughts? How am I to lift those hearts, and protect them, as they deserve? There is a future -- I believe it so certainly, Maurice. I will hold onto it, if no one else can... But..."
She shook her head, trying to force a smile onto her face as the tears dropped down, shaking, onto her lap. They'd arrived at last to the castle of her youth, to the doorway of her home. Her hands clenched into fists. She could only see those fists, white-knuckled and shaking. She could still see the blood on them, even though none had ever splattered there. She could still see that they might be able to reach out to the future she still believed in.
She looked up at Maurice then, her smile a tight, quavering -- breathless -- hint of teeth, her eyes aching and frightened. In front of her was someone who'd always been close to her... Someone who'd always scolded her, but with a hope in it she got nowhere else but from the people of Amarana -- certainly, not her parents. A hope that she could turn out to be someone...Worth having worried about. Fat globules of tears rolled down the sides of her cheeks, and cooled the underside of her jaw.
"But...Tell me... Have I done the right thing, in all this foolishness? Have I... Have I lived up... To the wishes all of you have invested in me?"
[5:43 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: Maurice gently smiled reassuringly, walking slowly up to Delphine and offering a hug like she seemed she needed, "There there, young mistress, no need to feel sorry worried about yourself..."
Maurice paused, stepping back after she let go, facing towards the young mistress and away from Castle Amarana, "You're more than I ever could have expected out of you, young mistress. I knew you'd be a remarkable woman when you grew up, but I never expected greatness such as all of this! Of course you've lived up to them!" he congratulated her, reassuring her doubts.
"You've proven that you might be the one able to solve what I had wished to show you, Delphine."
[5:53 PM] LadyDeme: She laughed, helpless and a little ashamed, into that hug. Or perhaps she sobbed, whole-hearted and innocent as a child. The air smelled as it ought to have smelled, still as it might have been. In that moment, standing in the shadow of her birthplace, feeling a gentle pat on her back from the castle's seneschal, who'd watched over her through her life, she felt the connection between herself and the earth and the sky. And all of it told her this: in this moment, for whatever it was worth...And forever long she could hold onto it... She had a home to fight for, all the same.
"Thank you. Thank you," she muttered, in between little tearful bursts of noise.
She pulled herself away, wiping her eyes with quick, frantic darts at her hands. Her shoulders still shook a little, but she steadied them with a few more deep breaths, until her smile steadied into her mild normal expression -- bright and slightly skeptical, as if she was already thinking ahead. Delphine could lift up her head, and face Maurice and the castle, with the bearing suiting -- just for a private moment -- for a countess. She nodded.
"Ah... Let's just keep that between us, shall we? Personally. You know. But very well. Before we attend to what we must... Let me see what you have to show."(edited)
[5:58 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: "Yes, yes, I will keep it between us. Follow me to the courtyard, young mistress?" he asked, as if just offering. When he started without her reply, though, Delphine would know it was somewhat serious.
As the pair walked towards the courtyard, which Maurice believed would be safe, he questioned Delphine, "Do you remember that big old tree in the center of the courtyard? Do you know the stories behind it, perhaps?"
[6:06 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine walked towards it, making note of this or that as she went. While the castle itself had been surrendered, judging from the looks of it, it had still been raided and looted, and she could see it apparent even from the few places she looked. The Ethysians had pulled out abruptly, though, and so a few things that had remained there, like trophies for the Ethysians to relish, were still there. Eventually, though, she answered as they came towards the courtyard.
"Ah, it's a sacred resting place... Which was the inspiration for my ancestor Heathguard to build his castle on this spot, was it not? There's rumors of it having been the work of the divine, and a great treasure sleeping there... But it had stood from the shadows of history itself. Our tree that hums the wind through its branches."
Delphine might have tried to dig up that treasure as a child, and gotten an earful from the gardeners about it. Well, such was the folly of youth. But it had been a lovely tree...And she began to suspect this was all true, and glanced at him, tilting her head.
"So, of course, this was all so, was it not?"
[6:12 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: "Ah, yes, wonderful, you do know! And you seem to have caught on, too," replied Maurice, stopping as they were a few feet away from the great applewood tree in the heart of the courtyard.
"All of the rumors and the stories are true, young mistress, and all of your accomplishments, journeys, and goals have led me to believe that maybe you, Delphine, are to be the next owner of the sacred treasure that lies as part of this very tree."
[6:32 PM] LadyDeme: The tree was the last of the garden that remained -- it seemed much the same as before, as if no time had passed. As if time never passed, for it, save for the changing of seasons, no more to it than a change in its gown, a change in the tempo of the dance that was history. Delphine took a few steps towards it, almost daunted by the shade of the tree, standing in spite of all that had been done. When spring came again, perhaps it even would bloom once more. She'd be looking forward to it, in a different sort of future. She lifted a hand towards it, feeling as she did a faint tingle, that almost had the steady beat of rain, a rhythm like music that played through her skin. Yes. There was a power there.
She turned her head back towards Maurice for the moment, still facing the tree itself. If there was a power in that, in the power of apple blooms in spring and apple cider in winter, a power to the way sounded like music across tiled rooves, and the ripples spread into a vast and criss-crossing web... Then she could believe, then such a power could help her. And if that meant more weight to carry, the wishes of gods... Well. She wasn't afraid of it, even if she'd decide what to do for that future on her own terms.
"If you know this much of it -- and I admit, I'm curious as to how, but perhaps another time... Then... What would I need to do, to claim such a thing?"
[6:40 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: "The legends have always said that the one who may obtain the treasure must concentrate solely on their belief and hope in their god and in the divine gift they may be about to receive. It comes from the heart, they have always said," calmly responded Maurice, "I suppose trying to love your god and the tree with all your heart would be a start?"
[6:54 PM] LadyDeme: She nodded, if perhaps somewhat dubiously. She approached the tree, clasping her hands together, and began to pray. Not with words, not with wishes -- not exactly. But she let her heart run wild in her breast, full of a beautiful world. Full of Ethysian wyverns playing on Arcian beaches, full of sweet candies shared between friends, full of beautiful lake vistas with dolphins glimmering off in the distance, full of tropical jungles, full of streets of theatres with worlds and stories blurring about, walking arm-in-arm... And full of this place. Reading by an apple orchard with your feet dangling in a stream. Sneaking pies after spending time in a warm world of polished brass cookware. Bringing in golden harvests, to the sound of your own song. Even plying a few quiet hours alone, writing or singing or painting, trying to preserve forever this singular and beautiful kaledeiscope called the world. Thank you, thank you, for such a wonderful world.
And it was a world that needed protection, now. No, more than that: even when the threat was gone, it wouldn't be enough -- the world was hurt, and hurting deeply. A world that might have lost its hope, that would need to rebuild little by little, inch by inch... It was leagues and leagues of those inches, stretching out into forever. She didn't know how, but she wanted to walk that road -- no, she needed it, to put the next foot forward. Delphine steeled her nerves and looked up at the wild, tameless sky through the apple tree's softly swaying branches. And you will help me in this, will you not? What will of the divine is it... To see the world lie fallow so? Please, oh Zyenar... Please, oh gods.... Aid me.
She reached out a single hand towards the tree.(edited)
[7:05 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: The apple tree began to radiate a pinkish red sort of color - the color that symbolizes peace and love. The pulse of the radiation let out a sense of hope and belief. It was surely working.
After a few more moment's of Delphine's praying, a solid object began to form in the air in front of the sacred tree, slowing taking on the shape of a rod or staff of sorts.
[7:17 PM] LadyDeme: She opened her eyes to see it then, the rosy glow bounding outward from the tree, coating the world so that Delphine's hair may have been slightly lavender, his skin the flush pink of a maiden's blush. It reflected off of her eyes, bringing out the vernal green that was hinted in their somewhat mutable surface. Delphine's hand reached out for the rod, a small, confident smile on her face. The gods would not abandon this world or its people -- though, had they, Delphine wondered faintly if she wouldn't just grit her teeth and smile anyway. Because if that was the dedication that it required, the happiness of the people who loved her all this time, and the wishes of the gods who truly did support this battle... Then, even if it didn't seem possible to her always, even if the path was clear... It was who she'd learn to be.(edited)
[7:27 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: The object began to slowly float towards the priestess, as if she were calling it to her. While the process was dreadfully slow, it eventually reached Delphine and placed itself in her hands through some sort of miraculous divine intervention or the like.(edited)
[7:27 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: Maurice stood by, silently, in pure awe.
[7:45 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine hefted the staff in each hand, feeling that song radiating through her -- the way a powerful drumbeat could be felt, across your ear and running itself across the subtle hairs on your arm. Goosebumps rose on Delphine's arms as she examined the delicate wooden rod, topped with a bundle of pinecones and flowers. The texture of the ivy leaves, wrapping seemingly in on themselves, contrasted with the slightly mottled wood. It felt warm, and flush, and right, and she was soon humming to some innate rhythm in her hand. She nodded, satisfied of it, and bowed her head in thanks. The gods had done her another favor today.
[7:59 PM] LadyDeme: Delphine rested the rod on her shoulder, the way someone might stand with a fishing pole. A grin toyed at her face, and she looked back to the walls of the castle. The war would wait -- using that treasure would wait. She sauntered back the way they'd came, her long braid swishing back in time. Her eyes were still a little puffy, but if you weren't looking, you wouldn't know she was nearly so nervous for what would happen next, or, really, anything: you'd just see she was glad to be home.
"Well, Maurice. Let's see who we can find to tell we're back, shall we?"
[8:01 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: Maurice, slightly spooked from the entire process of retrieving the sacred treasure from the tree, responded gently, "Yes, let's."
[8:02 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: [Delphine obtained Thyrsos!]
[8:02 PM] Mappy | Best Dog: ===End RP===
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