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[ Orthrus is confused for a moment when Somnus stops like that but then he too sees Hubert and runs over as fast as his legs can take him ]
Hubert!?
[ He kneels at his other side once he makes it over ]
I... I only know a little! Only enough to deal with small scrapes and bruises, not--!!
[ And then what he hears Hubert say makes his face pale ]
B... Bryn?!
Hubert!?
[ He kneels at his other side once he makes it over ]
I... I only know a little! Only enough to deal with small scrapes and bruises, not--!!
[ And then what he hears Hubert say makes his face pale ]
B... Bryn?!
[Emotion always complicated things, and so it was shut down in an instant. Worry for Hubert or concern for Bryn could not be a factor here, else it risk all three of them.]
[Somnus was silent, thinking—or calculating, given the sharp look in his eyes and the harsh tension set in his jawline. Brynhilde’s death was becoming a foregone conclusion in his mind—even if she were calmed and they reached a healer, Hubert’s life was still in question and her execution a real possibility. The critical points laid in who would die and who was to be considered accountable.]
[Hubert's brilliant mind was needed to keep the others on track. Orthrus's kind heart was needed to guide and comfort them when they might waver.]
[So then, there was only one acceptable loss of the three of them.]
Orthrus. [His voice held a strange authority to it, as though the force of a massive suit of armor’s voice could be heard in the commands of a mortal less than six feet tall.] Take Hubert and hide near the door. When I draw her attention, the pair of you run and wake the others. We need someone with healing magic to see to his wounds, and I can not defend either of you while carrying him.
[Sacrifice the few—the one—to save the many. Wasn't that exactly what he had always done?]
Do not look back. I will be but a step behind to guard you both.
[Another lie told without hesitation, to add to every other falsehood that had built a monarchy.]
[Somnus was silent, thinking—or calculating, given the sharp look in his eyes and the harsh tension set in his jawline. Brynhilde’s death was becoming a foregone conclusion in his mind—even if she were calmed and they reached a healer, Hubert’s life was still in question and her execution a real possibility. The critical points laid in who would die and who was to be considered accountable.]
[Hubert's brilliant mind was needed to keep the others on track. Orthrus's kind heart was needed to guide and comfort them when they might waver.]
[So then, there was only one acceptable loss of the three of them.]
Orthrus. [His voice held a strange authority to it, as though the force of a massive suit of armor’s voice could be heard in the commands of a mortal less than six feet tall.] Take Hubert and hide near the door. When I draw her attention, the pair of you run and wake the others. We need someone with healing magic to see to his wounds, and I can not defend either of you while carrying him.
[Sacrifice the few—the one—to save the many. Wasn't that exactly what he had always done?]
Do not look back. I will be but a step behind to guard you both.
[Another lie told without hesitation, to add to every other falsehood that had built a monarchy.]
[The two men's words are garbled to his ears as his awareness comes and goes. There's a comfort that Somnus is going to handle it in some way, but also a sudden raging fear and... guilt]
Don't... my fault. I... did this.
[Don't kill her... he tries to say, but he can't, shock rising through his body as the adrenaline that got him up the stairs starts to drain with his blood. Cold, distant.
Soft...]
Don't... my fault. I... did this.
[Don't kill her... he tries to say, but he can't, shock rising through his body as the adrenaline that got him up the stairs starts to drain with his blood. Cold, distant.
Soft...]
[ It all sounds... so sad to him, the way Somnus describes it. That mortals and their descendants should be cursed and bound like this. To live so short and dedicate their after lives to this cause... it feels so opposite of what his kind goes through, and yet he's still able to sympathize. ]
I... understand. Well, maybe not completely but... that feeling specifically.
When... when I first came to Aeaea I had nothing. Fled an unkind, dead world and arrived a hollow husk. It was my beloved and his people who found me that made me feel anything at all, made me whole, and when he asked me on his deathbed if I would always protect our home he gave me even more: purpose. Family.
[ He pulls a hand away from his harp and looks down at it. ]
I have spent the rest of my life since that moment doing whatever it takes. Learning everything I know, every spell, every piece of knowledge... all so I could fulfill this one purpose. Protect Aeaea. Protect our kin.
...But what good has it been here? What good... is this guardian beast now? Can't even keep the most vulnerable of us safe. So I... understand that much at least.
I... understand. Well, maybe not completely but... that feeling specifically.
When... when I first came to Aeaea I had nothing. Fled an unkind, dead world and arrived a hollow husk. It was my beloved and his people who found me that made me feel anything at all, made me whole, and when he asked me on his deathbed if I would always protect our home he gave me even more: purpose. Family.
[ He pulls a hand away from his harp and looks down at it. ]
I have spent the rest of my life since that moment doing whatever it takes. Learning everything I know, every spell, every piece of knowledge... all so I could fulfill this one purpose. Protect Aeaea. Protect our kin.
...But what good has it been here? What good... is this guardian beast now? Can't even keep the most vulnerable of us safe. So I... understand that much at least.
Edited 2022-05-02 17:36 (UTC)
It is…troubling. My…brother was ever focused upon the narrower picture. To save one in peril before him, either ignoring or unaware that it would mean another who was not saved. Who would lament being passed over while another was chosen, consciously or otherwise. To save subjects instead of the whole kingdom, refusing to make even a single knowing sacrifice while blinded to the fact that his actions sacrificed those he could not save regardless.
He was too kind, too compassionate, too willing to see only the best of others…I would not wish these circumstances on even an enemy. But I can not stop myself from thinking that he would have done better by all of you.
Just yet another thing he would have prevailed in over me.
He was too kind, too compassionate, too willing to see only the best of others…I would not wish these circumstances on even an enemy. But I can not stop myself from thinking that he would have done better by all of you.
Just yet another thing he would have prevailed in over me.
Edited 2022-05-02 17:43 (UTC)
There is no time to argue, just do as I say! We can discuss what to do next later!
[It was simply the pragmatic choice. He would do as Loki did not, as the Founder King had refused to do for two thousand years--confess the truth. Trial or no trial, this madness would not be drawn out any further.]
Move, gods damn you, before she catches up and takes the easiest target!
[It was simply the pragmatic choice. He would do as Loki did not, as the Founder King had refused to do for two thousand years--confess the truth. Trial or no trial, this madness would not be drawn out any further.]
Move, gods damn you, before she catches up and takes the easiest target!
Somnus... she's stronger now. Be careful.
[He mutters, trying to move but just too exhausted to manage more than speaking]
[He mutters, trying to move but just too exhausted to manage more than speaking]
Do not concern yourself. I fought Jasper in an enclosed space full of civilians—I have no reason to hold back now.
[He stood to face the door, phantom blades bursting to life around him aimed like a battalion of archers primed to fire.]
[He stood to face the door, phantom blades bursting to life around him aimed like a battalion of archers primed to fire.]
[ When her vision clears enough for her to take in the sight of the potions room, Hubert is gone. The sight of all that blood and the heavy smell of burned skin and hair in the room makes her stomach lurch but... if he's gone, it must have been under his own power. It must have been–
Then she sees it, fingers frozen mid-spasm, laying in a pool of blood like some cheap theatre prop. It takes her a moment to recognize it without the owner attached but... oh.
That's Hubert's arm.
Jerkily, like a puppet on overly loose strings, her body staggers into action. Her vision is swimming and she doesn't know where he could have gone but she hears yelling and commotion somewhere in the distance. More strongly than that, by some instinct she doesn't feel as her own, she smells blood. If she follows it, then... then she'll find...
Staggering like a drunk, she makes her way out of the potions room. She doesn't feel like she's walking under her own power, more like she's being dragged along by the scruff of the neck. She finds the stairs and manages to begin climbing them. Her eye swims in and out of focus and out of the corner of her eye, she sees an overgrowth of greenery and white petals spilling out of the other, empty socket. Up. Up. Up.
She smells flowers. She smells blood.
A door stands in her way and she paws at it uncomprehendingly for a moment. Then a push.
It starts to swing open. ]
Then she sees it, fingers frozen mid-spasm, laying in a pool of blood like some cheap theatre prop. It takes her a moment to recognize it without the owner attached but... oh.
That's Hubert's arm.
Jerkily, like a puppet on overly loose strings, her body staggers into action. Her vision is swimming and she doesn't know where he could have gone but she hears yelling and commotion somewhere in the distance. More strongly than that, by some instinct she doesn't feel as her own, she smells blood. If she follows it, then... then she'll find...
Staggering like a drunk, she makes her way out of the potions room. She doesn't feel like she's walking under her own power, more like she's being dragged along by the scruff of the neck. She finds the stairs and manages to begin climbing them. Her eye swims in and out of focus and out of the corner of her eye, she sees an overgrowth of greenery and white petals spilling out of the other, empty socket. Up. Up. Up.
She smells flowers. She smells blood.
A door stands in her way and she paws at it uncomprehendingly for a moment. Then a push.
It starts to swing open. ]
[Transform, he could practically hear Loki yelling at him from when they had fought Jasper. But there wasn’t time, and even if there was…]
[He had once slain the feral remains of someone he cared for as Somnus Lucis Caelum. It would not be the Mystic who did so a second time.]
[The door opened, and two of the readied phantom blades crashed down in the form of warning shots, leaving deep gouges in the earth as they vanished into shattering light. Somnus held out both arms at his sides, presenting the clearest target and most immediate threat he could.]
I’m over here, Brynhilde.
[He had once slain the feral remains of someone he cared for as Somnus Lucis Caelum. It would not be the Mystic who did so a second time.]
[The door opened, and two of the readied phantom blades crashed down in the form of warning shots, leaving deep gouges in the earth as they vanished into shattering light. Somnus held out both arms at his sides, presenting the clearest target and most immediate threat he could.]
I’m over here, Brynhilde.
[ The room erupts into light and noise the second she opens the door and the shape in the doorway staggers back a few steps as if startled. Or scared. The light blazes into her eyes, already blurred from pain and confusion and for a second she can't see at all. Her expression is achingly uncomprehending, her eye glazed over and the rebuff of two white roses swelling from the other socket. Blood confuses her senses, too strong and immediate to be of any help but to her shock, Somnus's voice cuts through all of it. Centers her just a bit, like a shift in gravity.
He's right there.
She staggers forward, still shuffling like she's forgotten how to walk on her own two legs. She tries to say I didn't mean to. She tries to say help. But when her mouth opens, all that comes out is a babble of dragonsong that, without her willing it, cracks and sharpens until it's unmistakable as a snarl of aggression. ]
He's right there.
She staggers forward, still shuffling like she's forgotten how to walk on her own two legs. She tries to say I didn't mean to. She tries to say help. But when her mouth opens, all that comes out is a babble of dragonsong that, without her willing it, cracks and sharpens until it's unmistakable as a snarl of aggression. ]
Come on. You need not hurt anyone else.
[Why did he say that? She was a mindless monster now, right? Just like…just like…]
[He backed away a step, goading her to follow. To get just a little further from the open doorway, and once she did…]
Orthrus, go! [At the same time, another sword tore through the earth in front of Bryn—gods, please, hold her attention.]
[Why did he say that? She was a mindless monster now, right? Just like…just like…]
[He backed away a step, goading her to follow. To get just a little further from the open doorway, and once she did…]
Orthrus, go! [At the same time, another sword tore through the earth in front of Bryn—gods, please, hold her attention.]
[Hubert is practically dead weight, and as Orthrus scoops him up and runs he wheezes in distress, trembling and retching. Thankfully for once his lack of good diet is a benefit as there's nothing to throw up. His skin is cool and clammy, and while his remaining eye is half open it's glassy and unseeing]
[When the pair moved, Somnus warped to follow--for just a brief moment, it may have even seemed as though he had been telling the truth. He doubted someone as kind as Orthrus would have done anything but hesitate, if he had been told outright what was about to happen. And he doubted anyone but him would have the strength to do what must have been done without hesitation.]
[The instant that the pair of them crossed the threshold, Somnus halted on the spot and spun around to face Bryn, the Blade of the Mystic manifesting with a flourish of crystal light before the motion was even finished.]
[Behind him, magic formed in the door frame as crackling crystal growths to rapidly spread and coalesce into a thick wall of something like inch-thick frosted glass--separating Somnus and Bryn from Orthrus and Hubert. Lucis' unbreakable barrier, tied inextricably to the life of the king who maintained it.]
[He did not turn away. A king could only ever push onward, accepting the consequences and never looking back. But to the retreating pair, he called:]
...That is my advisor she has wounded, Orthrus. I entrust his safety to you until I return.
[Insomnia's last line of defense, the keystone of the impenetrable Wall that protected a kingdom, stood unflinching. His grip on the hilt of his sword tightened, held in a single hand as though it were lighter than air.]
[If Bryn intended to venture beyond the crystalline shield, there was only one way it would break.]
Come, Brynhilde. For your sake as well as the others...I shall see this end swiftly.
[The instant that the pair of them crossed the threshold, Somnus halted on the spot and spun around to face Bryn, the Blade of the Mystic manifesting with a flourish of crystal light before the motion was even finished.]
[Behind him, magic formed in the door frame as crackling crystal growths to rapidly spread and coalesce into a thick wall of something like inch-thick frosted glass--separating Somnus and Bryn from Orthrus and Hubert. Lucis' unbreakable barrier, tied inextricably to the life of the king who maintained it.]
[He did not turn away. A king could only ever push onward, accepting the consequences and never looking back. But to the retreating pair, he called:]
...That is my advisor she has wounded, Orthrus. I entrust his safety to you until I return.
[Insomnia's last line of defense, the keystone of the impenetrable Wall that protected a kingdom, stood unflinching. His grip on the hilt of his sword tightened, held in a single hand as though it were lighter than air.]
[If Bryn intended to venture beyond the crystalline shield, there was only one way it would break.]
Come, Brynhilde. For your sake as well as the others...I shall see this end swiftly.
[ He knew all along that Somnus probably wouldn’t follow behind. And that’s why he looks back just in time to see that barrier between fully form. ]
Somnus—!
[ He’s distraught and angry at being lied to, that Somnus has decided to make this grand stand on his own but then the other’s words forcibly remind him of the currently dying Hubert in his arms and well… there was never any choice here.
He grits his teeth so hard they could crack and then he looks at the barrier one last time: ]
You better return, you… you idiot!!
[ And then he turns and runs without looking back again ]
Somnus—!
[ He’s distraught and angry at being lied to, that Somnus has decided to make this grand stand on his own but then the other’s words forcibly remind him of the currently dying Hubert in his arms and well… there was never any choice here.
He grits his teeth so hard they could crack and then he looks at the barrier one last time: ]
You better return, you… you idiot!!
[ And then he turns and runs without looking back again ]
[ In she stumbles. She doesn't even know what instinct she's following anymore – isn't thinking at all, when the din in her head is drowning out most of her other thoughts. Somnus is the one easiest to follow, so it's him she staggers after. And then the room is alight with noise and light again and she lets out a little cry of surprise. The smell of hot, gushing blood cuts off like a switch has been flipped and a wave of dissatisfaction washes over her. She'd followed that scent and come here to...
What had she come here to do...?
Not that it mattered anymore. Somnus was blocking the way and she had to... she had to...
She takes a few tentative steps forward. Wobbly, but growing surer with each step. A noise bubbles up from her throat. Not words, but– not dragonsong, either. ]
Ah... ggh...
[ Help. ]
What had she come here to do...?
Not that it mattered anymore. Somnus was blocking the way and she had to... she had to...
She takes a few tentative steps forward. Wobbly, but growing surer with each step. A noise bubbles up from her throat. Not words, but– not dragonsong, either. ]
Ah... ggh...
[ Help. ]
[Despite everything he was and everything he resolved to do, for perhaps the first time in his life Somnus hesitated. She wasn't attacking--was she really as berserk as Hubert had said? She had to be, else he would still have both arms.]
[...It didn't matter. If Hubert died--more likely than he wanted to think--or if she met anyone else in this state, Bryn would potentially hurt another, and if she could be brought back she would face execution.]
[It wasn't the same. But he watched her and for just an instant saw someone else entirely.]
...It will be over soon.
[The greatsword was thrown to land at her feet, Somnus following in a flash and swinging in a wide arc of silver the second he touched it.]
[...It didn't matter. If Hubert died--more likely than he wanted to think--or if she met anyone else in this state, Bryn would potentially hurt another, and if she could be brought back she would face execution.]
[It wasn't the same. But he watched her and for just an instant saw someone else entirely.]
...It will be over soon.
[The greatsword was thrown to land at her feet, Somnus following in a flash and swinging in a wide arc of silver the second he touched it.]
[ The gleam of the greatsword feels like it throws her eye out of focus again – the realization that she's being attacked sending a jolt of anxiety through her that makes the pressure throbbing in her skull triple in intensity. She can't think. It hurts to try and fight against the din still rattling around in her head and even that admission of weakness is enough for that violent rage to reassert control.
The strangled noises she's making warp into a snarl as she staggers back, just barely avoiding the blow but rushing forward all in the same movement even so. She doesn't have a weapon, but she claws at him anyway – and after seeing the state Hubert was in, it's clear she might not even need a weapon. ]
The strangled noises she's making warp into a snarl as she staggers back, just barely avoiding the blow but rushing forward all in the same movement even so. She doesn't have a weapon, but she claws at him anyway – and after seeing the state Hubert was in, it's clear she might not even need a weapon. ]
[Gods above, she was a little more than he’d thought. Obviously she was fast, but deflecting those claws off the flat edge of his sword sent reverberations halfway up his arm.]
[But Somnus himself was a lot more than he looked on first glance as well; at a gesture from his free hand he sent down another wave of blades, hoping to at least force her back for the half second he would need to cast something stronger.]
[But Somnus himself was a lot more than he looked on first glance as well; at a gesture from his free hand he sent down another wave of blades, hoping to at least force her back for the half second he would need to cast something stronger.]
[ Quick as she might be in this state, even she is quick enough to avoid a flurry of blades this thick. She dances back, stumbling over her own feet and as the blades skim past, they slice away chunks of hair, thin cuts of skin. She turns as if hoping to avoid them, but all that does is expose her side for one of the blades to slam into her, cutting deep and hitting with such and then one of them hits at such an angle that it buries itself deep into her side and sends her staggering back.
She teeters and it looks for a moment like it might have been enough to deter her. But then she takes a huge, wheezing breath, embers dancing around her mouth and wraps her hand around the blade itself. She wrenches it loose with a horrible squelch of blood and with a swing of her arm, sends it sailing back at Somnus. ]
She teeters and it looks for a moment like it might have been enough to deter her. But then she takes a huge, wheezing breath, embers dancing around her mouth and wraps her hand around the blade itself. She wrenches it loose with a horrible squelch of blood and with a swing of her arm, sends it sailing back at Somnus. ]
[The phantom sword vanished before it ever reached its master, shattering into flickers of light that evaporated into nothing.]
[In truth, Somnus was no longer thinking in terms of mercy or cruelty; there was just defeat her screaming in his head. It had to be done. For her sake, for everyone’s sake, the monster before him had to be slain. No matter who they were, no matter the emotional weight borne for millennia, he had to do what was right.]
[There was no thought given to remembering what Bryn had feared, only reflex and his favored elemancy. That which banished the dark and cold of the night, which scoured a plague from the earth wherever it could be found.]
[Somnus threw his hand forward, and Firaga raged through the solarium in a bursting conflagration.]
[In truth, Somnus was no longer thinking in terms of mercy or cruelty; there was just defeat her screaming in his head. It had to be done. For her sake, for everyone’s sake, the monster before him had to be slain. No matter who they were, no matter the emotional weight borne for millennia, he had to do what was right.]
[There was no thought given to remembering what Bryn had feared, only reflex and his favored elemancy. That which banished the dark and cold of the night, which scoured a plague from the earth wherever it could be found.]
[Somnus threw his hand forward, and Firaga raged through the solarium in a bursting conflagration.]
[ Heat doesn't just bloom around her – it erupts, with so much kindling to feed it. She feels it pressing in from all sides, licking at her face and it's so familiar she could just vomit. Unlike the previous times she's been faced with the stuff, though, she doesn't quail. She stands there with her head tilted in careful consideration.
Ah. Fire. If they're playing with fire, she knows just what to do.
Again, she sucks in one of those deep, rattling breaths and from her mouth comes a plume of violently bright purple flame, bursting through the solarium as if in challenge to the flames that came before.
In the commotion, she takes the opportunity to charge him again. If the only way out is through Somnus, then that's where she has to go, isn't it? ]
Ah. Fire. If they're playing with fire, she knows just what to do.
Again, she sucks in one of those deep, rattling breaths and from her mouth comes a plume of violently bright purple flame, bursting through the solarium as if in challenge to the flames that came before.
In the commotion, she takes the opportunity to charge him again. If the only way out is through Somnus, then that's where she has to go, isn't it? ]
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