[ He should have expected to see her (rather, not the illusion of her, but the real, her), but he didn't. A year apart from his world with no one else has led him to dull, it seems.
As she straightens her posture, Somnus does the same, assessing: she is in a solid form, like him, appearing just as she had at her death. However, her appearance-- alive and well as anyone else-- could be part of a glamor granted by the "fairy godmothers" of this realm, and he wonders if she would be a phantom outside of the gala.
(Yet he questions, blasphemous: did the Draconian keep her after death? Surely, in all of his might and foresight, his Prophecy would not call for that cruelty, as it had of the Lucian bloodline...) ]
This realm dares to summon your spirit. [ His voice is strained and sharp, causing his words cut through the silence of the garden, deafening the crunch of brittle flowers beneath his feet as he continues to approach her. Within moments, he's standing before her, the frown on his lips turning into a glower. ] And for what reason? You will find no peace here.
[Aera's words are sharp and cold, but underneath that she feels terrified at his approach. But she knows that she shouldn't show it; it wouldn't be the first time that their relationship is strained, but most of all... most of all she doesn't want to show weakness in front of Somnus. She doesn't want to prove him right, that she's soft-willed enough for him to manipulate...
And, well. If anything happens, Somnus's approach did bring him close enough to get his glowery face slapped. If anything happens.]
[ Had it not been for the effect of the chocolates, he probably would have been calmer in his appraoch. But between wrestling back the effects of it and the...shock? disruption?-- that her appearance has caused, he's apprehensive, tense. How foolish of him to think that he would be the only one called to this realm. If this-- the presence of more from Eos-- means the connection to their Star is strengthening, it bodes ill.
Somnus' eyes narrow as if his glare could pierce through the defiant armor she dons. He knows what she is doing; it seems she hasn't changed. Frustrating as ever. Although he doesn't raise his voice, Somnus gestures his arm to the side in irritation. ] Because if you are not dead, then you are condemned.
[ Just like Ardyn, just like himself. Just like all the other kings of Lucis, one after the other. Granted, this realm is nicer than being within the Ring (or kept in a island prison).... ]
[Well, that's just about enough. Aera narrows her eyes in kind; she can read Somnus's irritation easily enough, but rather than fear it prompts anger from her. "If you are not dead, then you are condemned"? What arrogant--
Her hand moves fast. Her pose allows her that speed, at least, although the slap is not as hard as it could have been if she had had more space... even if Aera is not foolish enough to think that she could somehow handle a physical altercation with Somnus. But here and now she is very upset with him.]
[ The strike lands cleanly across his cheek. It stings, of course, just as much as if he were truly alive, but more powerful than the slap is the shock of the action iteslf. He remains frozen, head still turned to the side as she speaks. Her words ring in his ears as his hand lifts absentmindedly to nurse the area. ] You dare--... [ He begins to speak slowly, then abruptly stops.
Even he can see how it was deserved, and for better or worse, rather than provoke his ire, it does snap him out of the more charged mood he had been in... Because, yes, who is he to condemn her. Her dying by his hand hadn't even been part of-- well, his assumptions of what was to happen that day in the throne room two thousand years ago.
He is, however, still the king that was chosen by the crystal to begin the line of Lucis. Somnus' hand lowers from his cheek, momentarily tightening into a fist, then relaxing. She deserves none of this, and perhaps her appearance here has shaken him more than he cares to acknowledge. ]
[Aera watches his reaction unfold, heart thudding madly in her chest. Though she is no longer panicked the way she was before, Somnus is an... impulsive man. She knows his reaction could have been worse.]
Yes. And I am the Oracle. 'Tis I who should be questioning your impudence... Lord Somnus.
[... Of course, his volatility still does not make her act more cautiously. For better or for worse, Aera herself is quite stubborn, and right now it is perhaps a matter of who outlasts whom. Somnus is stronger than her, and they are not home... but she must still stand her ground.]
I contest your behaviour, Lord Somnus. Will you tell me that what you did to your brother was in deference to the gods as well? Or do you believe that their will is your own now?
[Contrary to Somnus, Aera is very much so on the offensive. There are many things she did not get to say before... but maybe she can do so now.]
[After her death. For some time Aera is silent, trying to contain the panic and fear that well up at hearing those words, at the possibility of facing what happened to her... But more than her own fate she fears the implication in Somnus's words. What is it that she does not know?
Her mind spinning, Aera finds her hands clenching into fists. She fears the worst, but she can feel a terrible fury starting to boil, too.]
[ Two thousand years has passed, but the events of that night are burned into his memory. His blade had never been meant for her, but because of that… she hadn’t seen how his brother had been consumed, how the darkness spewed throughout the throne room in front of all to see, how the Crystal threw him from the dais. ]
Tell me. [ Somnus replies, voice thin. ] What does one do to those who are tarnished by the Scourge, yet cannot be disposed?
[ A rhetorical question; she knows as well as any of his world that if a daemon cannot be burned, they will continue to reform and spread their corruption across the land. ]
O Oracle, [ The pause is deliberate, holding her title hostage. ] death has kept you ignorant. [ —They were all ignorant in life as well. ]
The Crystal rejected him. [ His gaze remains fixed upon her, unyielding. Somnus lifts his chin, and although he steps no nearer to her, his presence looms. ] You were betrothed to a man of corrupted nature, a reservoir of daemon’s blight.
[A man of corrupted nature. A reservoir of daemon's blight.
Aera stands stock still for some time, her expression impassive. Where there had been anger and anxiety there is now stillness... and when she stirs again there is a small, clear smile on her lips, her voice gentle but firm.]
No. You are wrong.
[Rather than a statement of disbelief it is a statement of belief. It's not that she doubts Somnus's words; it's that she is unable to even conceive of a world in which he would be telling the truth. That would be like believing the sky is green.
Once more Aera folds her hands in her usual way, an aura of tranquility about her. But though it is small and subtle, there is an edge to it, to her strange peacefulness, her subdued smile, the way she keeps her back so straight. With that same dreamy look, she steps closer to Somnus, looking up at him - and now there is something else in her eyes and her soft voice and her smile, something that has never been there before in all of her life.]
If I but could, I would take the name of Lucis Caelum from you. You are unworthy of it. Do you not agree, Kinslayer?
[However taxing her life might have been at times, whatever difficulties she and their people might have faced, Aera has never hated someone before. What kind of trick of fate is it that the first person to earn that feeling would be someone who would have become her family, once upon a time?]
[ He watches in silence as both her expression and poise adopt an impenetrable aura of tranquility. Her posture, her smile, the way she dares to step near him unafraid and unperturbed, steadfast in her rejection and swift in her execution, causes him to remain silent. She is confident and calm, flawless and vicious at once. The content of her words asides, she delivers another unspoken truth in that very same moment: he has no power over her here. (He never had power over her.)
Kinslayer.
Fitting, in more ways than one. Not only for his brother, but for the Prophecy that Somnus himself has upheld. He had passed down the Ring. He had watched his son, his grandson, great-grandson, and every king and queen thereafter die to it or daemons, as necessary for the world. He had perpetuated the sanctity of the revelation to all kings who came into the Ring after himself, daming them to watch, just as he did, as the rest of their family perished. Had he known this was the fate to which he would condemn his family? No. Had he enjoyed any moment of watching his descendants suffer in life and then in death, their souls jailed to the hostile magic of the Ring? No. But there had been no choice, and to deny it means one would believe their Star is less valuable than a single life-- or a single family, as it were. To defy it means to forfeit the world itself and invoke the Bladekeeper's wrath.
The True King is neither Somnus nor Ardyn, but rather the last of their family. The True King sits the throne. His brother will have the satisfaction that there will be no more kin, none of the Lucis Caelum line. He will know rest. This is all that matters.
Kinslayer is accurate. As for the rest, he needn't prove if he is worthy or not of his family's name, and he has already said he has done as the gods bade for millennia. No defense is needed, as he received his calling as soon as he ascended. Thus, he only has three words for her: ]
On your knees.
[ This is spoken without drawing a breath, the equivalent of sheathing a blade without making a sound, because they are done here. He expects her not to obey, of course, but he means to emphasize how inconsequential her words are to the prophecy. ]
[It is perhaps another strange of twist that the Oracle of their people is the one who is ready to put people above the will of the gods. Perhaps Aera herself was never truly meant to be the Oracle - and perhaps in that way her death was ordained, so that she could make way for someone more suited to being a servant of the gods.
To Somnus, her words are inconsequential to the prophecy. To Aera, the prophecy itself has no meaning if a man of no dignity and no love for others sits the throne. If good men and women must perish so senselessly for the sake of it, what difference does it make from the daemon's blight that cares just as little for people? The thought is blasphemous, yet somehow Aera knows that to her it is the truth.
Much as Somnus dismissed her words, she ignores his.]
Leave my sight, Kinslayer. Never return. I know, now, that Somnus Lucis Caelum perished long ago, and I've no wish to see you parade his visage around.
[ He hadn't suspected that she would demonstrate fealty, and truly, there is no need for it. She is dead, and she no longer speaks for the divine. He's been within the Draconian's presence and a gaol crafted by the Astrals for far longer than she had ever been alive. In that respect, she speaks another truth. The Somnus she had known is dead. What remains is this: a specter, a statue, a weapon, an accessory, a soul whose purpose is to be used in sacrifice.
The realm of dreams has caused him to soften. Lest he forget, he is only the above, and the future is what matters most. Her opinion does not.
Whatever reaction he would have had for her in the past for defiance is nowhere to be found. Instead, a cold, steely reticence settles across his expression. There are two paths before him. Either he forces her to bow, or he leavee her be out of some lingering respect for her person.
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songerein
no subject
As she straightens her posture, Somnus does the same, assessing: she is in a solid form, like him, appearing just as she had at her death. However, her appearance-- alive and well as anyone else-- could be part of a glamor granted by the "fairy godmothers" of this realm, and he wonders if she would be a phantom outside of the gala.
(Yet he questions, blasphemous: did the Draconian keep her after death? Surely, in all of his might and foresight, his Prophecy would not call for that cruelty, as it had of the Lucian bloodline...) ]
This realm dares to summon your spirit. [ His voice is strained and sharp, causing his words cut through the silence of the garden, deafening the crunch of brittle flowers beneath his feet as he continues to approach her. Within moments, he's standing before her, the frown on his lips turning into a glower. ] And for what reason? You will find no peace here.
no subject
[Aera's words are sharp and cold, but underneath that she feels terrified at his approach. But she knows that she shouldn't show it; it wouldn't be the first time that their relationship is strained, but most of all... most of all she doesn't want to show weakness in front of Somnus. She doesn't want to prove him right, that she's soft-willed enough for him to manipulate...
And, well. If anything happens, Somnus's approach did bring him close enough to get his glowery face slapped. If anything happens.]
no subject
Somnus' eyes narrow as if his glare could pierce through the defiant armor she dons. He knows what she is doing; it seems she hasn't changed. Frustrating as ever. Although he doesn't raise his voice, Somnus gestures his arm to the side in irritation. ] Because if you are not dead, then you are condemned.
[ Just like Ardyn, just like himself. Just like all the other kings of Lucis, one after the other. Granted, this realm is nicer than being within the Ring (or kept in a island prison).... ]
no subject
Her hand moves fast. Her pose allows her that speed, at least, although the slap is not as hard as it could have been if she had had more space... even if Aera is not foolish enough to think that she could somehow handle a physical altercation with Somnus. But here and now she is very upset with him.]
Who are you to condemn me, Somnus?
no subject
Even he can see how it was deserved, and for better or worse, rather than provoke his ire, it does snap him out of the more charged mood he had been in... Because, yes, who is he to condemn her. Her dying by his hand hadn't even been part of-- well, his assumptions of what was to happen that day in the throne room two thousand years ago.
He is, however, still the king that was chosen by the crystal to begin the line of Lucis. Somnus' hand lowers from his cheek, momentarily tightening into a fist, then relaxing. She deserves none of this, and perhaps her appearance here has shaken him more than he cares to acknowledge. ]
...You are correct. The Astrals hold our fates.
no subject
Yes. And I am the Oracle. 'Tis I who should be questioning your impudence... Lord Somnus.
[... Of course, his volatility still does not make her act more cautiously. For better or for worse, Aera herself is quite stubborn, and right now it is perhaps a matter of who outlasts whom. Somnus is stronger than her, and they are not home... but she must still stand her ground.]
no subject
My calling has been in deference to the gods. [ He dismisses, tone sharp. ] Do you contest this?
no subject
[Contrary to Somnus, Aera is very much so on the offensive. There are many things she did not get to say before... but maybe she can do so now.]
no subject
But then he continues in that same hardened tone, which matches the stoniness of his expression. ]
So you know nothing of what happened after your death.
no subject
Her mind spinning, Aera finds her hands clenching into fists. She fears the worst, but she can feel a terrible fury starting to boil, too.]
... What did you do to him?
no subject
Tell me. [ Somnus replies, voice thin. ] What does one do to those who are tarnished by the Scourge, yet cannot be disposed?
[ A rhetorical question; she knows as well as any of his world that if a daemon cannot be burned, they will continue to reform and spread their corruption across the land. ]
O Oracle, [ The pause is deliberate, holding her title hostage. ] death has kept you ignorant. [ —They were all ignorant in life as well. ]
The Crystal rejected him. [ His gaze remains fixed upon her, unyielding. Somnus lifts his chin, and although he steps no nearer to her, his presence looms. ] You were betrothed to a man of corrupted nature, a reservoir of daemon’s blight.
no subject
Aera stands stock still for some time, her expression impassive. Where there had been anger and anxiety there is now stillness... and when she stirs again there is a small, clear smile on her lips, her voice gentle but firm.]
No. You are wrong.
[Rather than a statement of disbelief it is a statement of belief. It's not that she doubts Somnus's words; it's that she is unable to even conceive of a world in which he would be telling the truth. That would be like believing the sky is green.
Once more Aera folds her hands in her usual way, an aura of tranquility about her. But though it is small and subtle, there is an edge to it, to her strange peacefulness, her subdued smile, the way she keeps her back so straight. With that same dreamy look, she steps closer to Somnus, looking up at him - and now there is something else in her eyes and her soft voice and her smile, something that has never been there before in all of her life.]
If I but could, I would take the name of Lucis Caelum from you. You are unworthy of it. Do you not agree, Kinslayer?
[However taxing her life might have been at times, whatever difficulties she and their people might have faced, Aera has never hated someone before. What kind of trick of fate is it that the first person to earn that feeling would be someone who would have become her family, once upon a time?]
no subject
Kinslayer.
Fitting, in more ways than one. Not only for his brother, but for the Prophecy that Somnus himself has upheld. He had passed down the Ring. He had watched his son, his grandson, great-grandson, and every king and queen thereafter die to it or daemons, as necessary for the world. He had perpetuated the sanctity of the revelation to all kings who came into the Ring after himself, daming them to watch, just as he did, as the rest of their family perished. Had he known this was the fate to which he would condemn his family? No. Had he enjoyed any moment of watching his descendants suffer in life and then in death, their souls jailed to the hostile magic of the Ring? No. But there had been no choice, and to deny it means one would believe their Star is less valuable than a single life-- or a single family, as it were. To defy it means to forfeit the world itself and invoke the Bladekeeper's wrath.
The True King is neither Somnus nor Ardyn, but rather the last of their family. The True King sits the throne. His brother will have the satisfaction that there will be no more kin, none of the Lucis Caelum line. He will know rest. This is all that matters.
Kinslayer is accurate. As for the rest, he needn't prove if he is worthy or not of his family's name, and he has already said he has done as the gods bade for millennia. No defense is needed, as he received his calling as soon as he ascended. Thus, he only has three words for her: ]
On your knees.
[ This is spoken without drawing a breath, the equivalent of sheathing a blade without making a sound, because they are done here. He expects her not to obey, of course, but he means to emphasize how inconsequential her words are to the prophecy. ]
no subject
To Somnus, her words are inconsequential to the prophecy. To Aera, the prophecy itself has no meaning if a man of no dignity and no love for others sits the throne. If good men and women must perish so senselessly for the sake of it, what difference does it make from the daemon's blight that cares just as little for people? The thought is blasphemous, yet somehow Aera knows that to her it is the truth.
Much as Somnus dismissed her words, she ignores his.]
Leave my sight, Kinslayer. Never return. I know, now, that Somnus Lucis Caelum perished long ago, and I've no wish to see you parade his visage around.
no subject
The realm of dreams has caused him to soften. Lest he forget, he is only the above, and the future is what matters most. Her opinion does not.
Whatever reaction he would have had for her in the past for defiance is nowhere to be found. Instead, a cold, steely reticence settles across his expression. There are two paths before him. Either he forces her to bow, or he leavee her be out of some lingering respect for her person.
Somnus steps away, pivots, then departs. ]