[ 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
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. ]