[ Although it's a bit rude, Zelda will not respond to confirm the appointment. Instead, she will simply show up at the smithy at the appointed time.
Zelda lingers hesitantly near the entrance when she arrives, eyes darting around the smithy to ensure that it's completely empty. Although the subject of conversation she wishes to hold with Somnus isn't one that she's kept private from other dreamwalkers, a notable change has occurred that she isn't sure how to handle. She needs the input of someone who is both clearly knowledgeable on the subject matter and will not hold back an honest answer for the sake of her feelings, no matter how ugly the truth may be. ]
[ Somnus, while not working or walking within a dream, spends most of his time at the smithy or gathering raw materials from the clifflands. When not busy with those two tasks, he simply-- well, rest isn't a precise word for it, for there is none for the dead-- exists. His abode is the suit of armor in which he resides.
Letters that come and go to his residence (a treehouse in which there are no furnishings or objects anyway), are virtually non-existent, but he makes a habit of stopping by from time to time. As a matter of fact, he's only made habit of it since she had sent a letter to him months ago. It had been the first one he'd received in millennia.
Since then, he keeps all letters... of which there have only been two. Hers. ]
[ ...But it is like that, existing within his armor, that he remains in the smithy, standing beside the glowing, diminishing embers of the fire. Patience is an obligatory virtue for those who are cursed with undeath, and watching for coals to turn to ash is a tried and true practice. As she stalls, he merely waits.
He does not bid her to enter, but when she does at last, he will turn in her direction. ]
Greetings.
[ On the table are mock-ups of a sword, spear, crossbow, a shield, and what looks to be some sort of a barrel to a firearm, but it seems he is done working for the day. There is, also, her opened letter next to the weapons. ]
[ Zelda doesn't tarry for very long. Once she's satisfied that there's no one else around, she steps inside the smithy and approaches where Somnus is standing. ]
Good afternoon, Somnus. [ She inclines her head in greeting. ] Thank you for meeting me.
[ Zelda hesitates for a moment. She's tempted to try to make small talk with Somnus, to offer the appropriate amount of social cordiality before jumping into issue she needs his help with, but ultimately decides against it. He hasn't really been one for idle chit-chat, in her experience.
Instead, Zelda takes in a breath and simply blurts it out. ] There's something wrong with my powers.
[ He can appreciate her directness, for if there is ever a problem to be considered urgent, it would certainly be divine power malfunctioning. Discussion of it, or seeking help with it, is not to be delayed.
The metal plates of his shoulders raise, as if in a slight brace to prepare for dire news. ]
[ And it's no wonder she doesn't. When her powers finally awoke in Hyrule, Zelda had them for barely a handful of hours before she went to face Calamity Ganon and sealed the pair of them away together. The princess hardly knows what her powers feel like or how to command them. She didn't have the opportunity to get used to them before being sealed away and descending into a state of quasi-sleep. ]
I feel... something... [ She attempts to explain. ] ...Something different about them. I can't quite determine what this feeling is, but it's something.
[ Although she gives a vague answer, it is obvious that she does not do so in a way to intentionally withhold information. The princess is having trouble describing the shift in her power. It is right to be cautious.
Somnus is silent in thought. From what he's seen of her previous dreamwalking nightmare and of what she has told him, there is only so much he can piece together.
And so, he begins with this: ]
Are you in pain with this shift?
[ The nature of divine power in his world is this: powerful but harmful. For all of its power, no mortal is able to tolerate it. Merely speaking with the divine causes crippling headaches. Wielding its Light causes one to burn. From what he has seen of her abilities, it seems she is not hurt by her power. Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to ask as a start. ]
[ Zelda can't hide a look of surprise at Somnus's question. While she doesn't think him insensitive, Zelda's wouldn't have expected his first question to be for her wellbeing.
She shakes her head. ] No, not at all.
And that is normal, I believe. My powers never caused me pain before, and I do not believe they ever hurt my mother or our ancestors.
[ There is a slight slope to his armored shoulders. Perhaps, in anticipation of a more regrettable answer, there had been tension. Now, not so much. It is good news, that this change is not causing her harm.
She is far too young.
Somnus moves on to the next question. ]
Do you feel your powers are growing? Or are they more difficult to control?
[ The lines on her brow deepen as Zelda tries to concentrate on the distinct feeling of her divine powers. They have an energy that is immediately recognizable to the princess, but difficult for her to focus on, like a flash of light in the periphery of her vision that she can't see directly. ]
I believe they might be... growing. But not in the way one would expect. Or at least, I don't think one would expect this.
I have not been able to feel my magic since I awoke here. Not as I felt it in Hyrule, at least. I sense... something... here-- [ She touches a hand to her chest. ] --but it has never felt quite... real. It's more like... a memory of my powers. Muted, I guess, like a vivid memory of touching a hot stove as a child.
But recently, they have stopped feeling so muted. It's like I am touching that stove right now.
[ Growth, then, from a muted memory of her power to something more tangible. Perhaps it had only been a matter of time, a slow growth not unlike coming into adulthood, inevitable but unpredictable on the whens, whys, or where. But there are other possibilities, a reason for this start-- a trigger or provocation, that the divine power within her is provoked to shift in preparation for something grander. Likewise, a third option is that something has inspired her, causing the power to bloom in a subconscious way.
All three options should be considered. ]
Tell me, Daughter of Hyrule.
Has aught changed within your life in Reverin? Has something happened.
[ Zelda is silent for a minute or two, working her way back through her memory of recent happenings in the dream world. Her gaze drifts sightlessly over the array of weapons on the table. What has changed lately? Her friend Luca vanished during the spring, likely awakening back in his world. Satan has succumbed to the same unwaking sleep that Beatrix was suffering from (although, since Beatrix awakened unharmed, Zelda isn't too worried about Satan yet). The moon has returned to the night sky and a second moon has inexplicably joined it. New dreamwalkers awakened to Songerein not long after, including Link.
Zelda freezes, her unseeing gaze fixing on a hatchet blade not yet mounted to a handle. ]
It's Link...
[ It has to be. It can't be anything else. Change is constant in Songerein and it has never effected her powers before. Nothing has effected her powers during her time in Songerein. It's like they went dormant again the moment Zelda awoke to the dream world. She always assumed that it's because she is only a dream-version of herself; her powers remained behind in Hyrule with her real body, sealed away with Calamity Ganon.
[ Somnus's voice snaps Zelda out of her thoughts and she looks up from the table to him. ]
My knight. [ She seems a bit lighter just saying those words. ]
Link is from my kingdom, Hyrule. My father assigned him as my personal guard a year or two before the Calamity. He was my constant companion everywhere I went and... well, I was quite cruel to him because of it, to be honest. But once I gave him a chance, we became very close.
[ Zelda purses her lips. ] Link protected me when we fled the castle after Calamity Ganon awakened. He was mortally wounded while we were pursued and the thought of losing him---on top of my father and the other Champions who had already died because of me---somehow, my powers reacted to that threat and I saved him.
[ So, it is a friendship that had grown between royal and vassal before the fall of her kingdom, to the point that his near-death had been enough to evoke her awakening. Or-- no. Somnus is doubtful that her father or other friends' passing hadn't been enough on their own; this knight's wounds had been at the tail end of a series of tragic events. All together, they were enough.
It is similar in the narrative to the Chosen's own trials. A fallen kingdom, death after death, tragedy after tragedy, not being ready to bear the burden of the divine power granted to their line... until finally, it had been enough.
His helm lifts as he brings himself out of such reflection. The present, the future is what matters most. ]
This knight means much to you. [ His tone, although deep and thoughtful, still retains its hollowness, giving it a detached quality.
Somnus presumes this Link is under no threat in Reverein. But, her power still stirs. He continues: ] Fear for his life caused your first awakening. Perhaps this shift signifies it is not only fear that inspires the power of the goddess.
[ "This knight means much to you." A gentle little smile blooms on Zelda's face. It's difficult to emphasize just how much Link means to her, but it sounds like Somnus understands. He can be surprisingly intuitive at times, for an enchanted suit of armor or goddess-knows what manner of being.
The rest of his words make her contemplative. ] How do you mean?
I tried everything when I was young; I cannot even begin to guess what approach I missed. I've considered it since I arrived here as well, but I have felt nothing before now. I had to conclude that the Goddess's power simply cannot be utilized in anything less than dire need.
[ Of his Line, the deterrent to using divine power granted to them would be the natural pain it causes, the drain of their mortal life, and the toll it leaves behind. There is not one among the kings and queen of Lucis who are without the unique scars of their blessing. Divine power shouldn't be used at-will, for its power is unimaginable. ]
Ideally, such awesome power should be used judiciously. However...
[ ...At the same time, there is merit in exploring control of what is allotted to them, lest it causes damage by accident. Without the fear of it harming this young woman, that is what they should do. ]
It stirs within, awakening to something other than alarm. [ He gestures towards her, a slow and neutral wave of his metal-clad hand. ] The favor you have for your knight, perhaps.
[ Zelda turns Somnus's suggestion over in her mind. Why would her affection for Link have any impact on her divine power? If something so simple as friendship was the key to unlocking her sealing power, surely the princess would have figured that out long before the Calamity.
Or could this be a unique effect of Songerein's dreamotion magic? Dreamotion amplifies (and is amplified by) the intensity of one's dreams and/or emotions within the dreamworld. Would it be so far fetched to believe that dreamotion could be effecting her divine power? ]
Why would it react to that? It never has before.
[ Or so she thinks.
It's more of a rhetorical question than anything else, the result of Zelda puzzling this out aloud. ]
Mayhap, a culmination of factors surmounted, with the most significant being his presence.
[ As far as divine power goes, it may be more than one point that influences its awakening, strength, and malleability.He has seen it before, a trigger (similarly, a loss, visceral and grave). And then the Oracle—
[ A culmination of factors... Zelda hasn't considered that before. She has always assumed that awakening her powers would require one singular trigger, like flipping a switch. Is it possible that it has always required more than that.
Zelda nods in answer to Somnus. ]
Yes, Link was chosen by the gods to wield the sword that seals darkness. It is a holy blade forged eons ago by the Goddess who is my distant ancestor.
[ If the knight carries any items of importance would have been his next question. Weapons and certain jewelry are often instrumental for legacy and inheritance of power. For her, perhaps the presence of this blade may be one more factor to consider. As for Somnus... His tone lowers. ]
Inextricably linked, bound by forces beyond... explore your might with discretion.
[ There is a touch more emotion to it than before, a weariness that causes his words to be weighted like the iron bars upon the kiln. ]
[ Through her relationship with Link, Zelda has become more perceptive of subtle changes in a person's demeanor. Though Somnus has no expressions to read, his tone of voice and body language do offer some hints as to what he's feeling behind his words. Perhaps fitting of the suit of armor he can be so easily mistaken for, Zelda typically struggles to read Somnus beyond surface level. But she has long though that there is a lot more to him than he readily volunteers and remarks like this only kindle her curiosity about him.
She nods again, more solemnly this time. ] I shall.
[ She hesitates. Her mind, and the air surrounding her, are heavy with unasked questions. It feels like there's much more to his words than simply the sage advice of one older and wiser.
Eventually, she ventures a question tentatively. ] Did you once know someone like me?
[ The ambient sounds of the smithy fill the pause after her question, from the quiet crackle of embers beneath the dormant forge to the soft ting of metal scraps fastened like chimes above. He answers solemnly, ]
My descendant. [ He spares no details. Although they share similar struggles, they are too different to discuss the specifics. What matters is the virtue of their hearts, and their strength, that is comparable: ]
The Chosen struggled, yet prevailed. He honors his Calling. [ For their Star, for which the Light must be restored. ]
I believe... You are capable of doing the same. [ If she hasn't already, by the looks of it. It seems that all the pieces are there: herself, this knight, the sword... Time is the remaining factor, and, perhaps, patience. There will be more instances of frustration, more blocks, more trials, but if she is anything like the last of his Line, she will overcome them. Peace is worth all hardships, and there is no greater reward than the dawn breaking on a world without the Scourge's blight. ]
[ His descendant. Zelda isn't as surprised by this revelation as she probably should be. She has always found Somnus to be... otherworldly. More like a ghost of an age past than a living, breathing person. It seems her impression is closer to the truth than she expected. While "descendant" could technically refer to a child or grandchild, it feels like there is probably a great number of generations between Somnus and this Chosen. ]
What sort of role is your descendant chosen to perform?
To rid our Star of the Scourge’s blight, to restore the Light…
That is the duty of the Chosen.
[ His hollow voice is as solemn as a cathedral’s bell, and perhaps the quietness that follows betrays the gravity of both the Chosen’s task and the catastrophic circumstances of his world. ]
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songerein
-> action
Zelda lingers hesitantly near the entrance when she arrives, eyes darting around the smithy to ensure that it's completely empty. Although the subject of conversation she wishes to hold with Somnus isn't one that she's kept private from other dreamwalkers, a notable change has occurred that she isn't sure how to handle. She needs the input of someone who is both clearly knowledgeable on the subject matter and will not hold back an honest answer for the sake of her feelings, no matter how ugly the truth may be. ]
1/2
Letters that come and go to his residence (a treehouse in which there are no furnishings or objects anyway), are virtually non-existent, but he makes a habit of stopping by from time to time. As a matter of fact, he's only made habit of it since she had sent a letter to him months ago. It had been the first one he'd received in millennia.
Since then, he keeps all letters... of which there have only been two. Hers. ]
no subject
He does not bid her to enter, but when she does at last, he will turn in her direction. ]
Greetings.
[ On the table are mock-ups of a sword, spear, crossbow, a shield, and what looks to be some sort of a barrel to a firearm, but it seems he is done working for the day. There is, also, her opened letter next to the weapons. ]
no subject
Good afternoon, Somnus. [ She inclines her head in greeting. ] Thank you for meeting me.
[ Zelda hesitates for a moment. She's tempted to try to make small talk with Somnus, to offer the appropriate amount of social cordiality before jumping into issue she needs his help with, but ultimately decides against it. He hasn't really been one for idle chit-chat, in her experience.
Instead, Zelda takes in a breath and simply blurts it out. ] There's something wrong with my powers.
no subject
The metal plates of his shoulders raise, as if in a slight brace to prepare for dire news. ]
In what manner?
no subject
To be honest, I do not know.
[ And it's no wonder she doesn't. When her powers finally awoke in Hyrule, Zelda had them for barely a handful of hours before she went to face Calamity Ganon and sealed the pair of them away together. The princess hardly knows what her powers feel like or how to command them. She didn't have the opportunity to get used to them before being sealed away and descending into a state of quasi-sleep. ]
I feel... something... [ She attempts to explain. ] ...Something different about them. I can't quite determine what this feeling is, but it's something.
no subject
Somnus is silent in thought. From what he's seen of her previous dreamwalking nightmare and of what she has told him, there is only so much he can piece together.
And so, he begins with this: ]
Are you in pain with this shift?
[ The nature of divine power in his world is this: powerful but harmful. For all of its power, no mortal is able to tolerate it. Merely speaking with the divine causes crippling headaches. Wielding its Light causes one to burn. From what he has seen of her abilities, it seems she is not hurt by her power. Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to ask as a start. ]
no subject
She shakes her head. ] No, not at all.
And that is normal, I believe. My powers never caused me pain before, and I do not believe they ever hurt my mother or our ancestors.
no subject
She is far too young.
Somnus moves on to the next question. ]
Do you feel your powers are growing? Or are they more difficult to control?
no subject
I believe they might be... growing. But not in the way one would expect. Or at least, I don't think one would expect this.
I have not been able to feel my magic since I awoke here. Not as I felt it in Hyrule, at least. I sense... something... here-- [ She touches a hand to her chest. ] --but it has never felt quite... real. It's more like... a memory of my powers. Muted, I guess, like a vivid memory of touching a hot stove as a child.
But recently, they have stopped feeling so muted. It's like I am touching that stove right now.
no subject
All three options should be considered. ]
Tell me, Daughter of Hyrule.
Has aught changed within your life in Reverin? Has something happened.
no subject
Zelda freezes, her unseeing gaze fixing on a hatchet blade not yet mounted to a handle. ]
It's Link...
[ It has to be. It can't be anything else. Change is constant in Songerein and it has never effected her powers before. Nothing has effected her powers during her time in Songerein. It's like they went dormant again the moment Zelda awoke to the dream world. She always assumed that it's because she is only a dream-version of herself; her powers remained behind in Hyrule with her real body, sealed away with Calamity Ganon.
Has that not been the case this entire time? ]
no subject
[ He repeats the name to her, tone open in a question, gently encouraging her to elaborate.
It seems she's realized something, but as to what it is, he remains ignorant. ]
no subject
My knight. [ She seems a bit lighter just saying those words. ]
Link is from my kingdom, Hyrule. My father assigned him as my personal guard a year or two before the Calamity. He was my constant companion everywhere I went and... well, I was quite cruel to him because of it, to be honest. But once I gave him a chance, we became very close.
[ Zelda purses her lips. ] Link protected me when we fled the castle after Calamity Ganon awakened. He was mortally wounded while we were pursued and the thought of losing him---on top of my father and the other Champions who had already died because of me---somehow, my powers reacted to that threat and I saved him.
no subject
It is similar in the narrative to the Chosen's own trials. A fallen kingdom, death after death, tragedy after tragedy, not being ready to bear the burden of the divine power granted to their line... until finally, it had been enough.
His helm lifts as he brings himself out of such reflection. The present, the future is what matters most. ]
This knight means much to you. [ His tone, although deep and thoughtful, still retains its hollowness, giving it a detached quality.
Somnus presumes this Link is under no threat in Reverein. But, her power still stirs. He continues: ] Fear for his life caused your first awakening. Perhaps this shift signifies it is not only fear that inspires the power of the goddess.
no subject
The rest of his words make her contemplative. ] How do you mean?
I tried everything when I was young; I cannot even begin to guess what approach I missed. I've considered it since I arrived here as well, but I have felt nothing before now. I had to conclude that the Goddess's power simply cannot be utilized in anything less than dire need.
no subject
Ideally, such awesome power should be used judiciously. However...
[ ...At the same time, there is merit in exploring control of what is allotted to them, lest it causes damage by accident. Without the fear of it harming this young woman, that is what they should do. ]
It stirs within, awakening to something other than alarm. [ He gestures towards her, a slow and neutral wave of his metal-clad hand. ] The favor you have for your knight, perhaps.
no subject
[ Zelda turns Somnus's suggestion over in her mind. Why would her affection for Link have any impact on her divine power? If something so simple as friendship was the key to unlocking her sealing power, surely the princess would have figured that out long before the Calamity.
Or could this be a unique effect of Songerein's dreamotion magic? Dreamotion amplifies (and is amplified by) the intensity of one's dreams and/or emotions within the dreamworld. Would it be so far fetched to believe that dreamotion could be effecting her divine power? ]
Why would it react to that? It never has before.
[ Or so she thinks.
It's more of a rhetorical question than anything else, the result of Zelda puzzling this out aloud. ]
no subject
[ As far as divine power goes, it may be more than one point that influences its awakening, strength, and malleability.He has seen it before, a trigger (similarly, a loss, visceral and grave). And then the Oracle—
A pause.
This causes him to consider another factor. ]
Tell me, is this knight also blessed?
no subject
Zelda nods in answer to Somnus. ]
Yes, Link was chosen by the gods to wield the sword that seals darkness. It is a holy blade forged eons ago by the Goddess who is my distant ancestor.
no subject
Inextricably linked, bound by forces beyond... explore your might with discretion.
[ There is a touch more emotion to it than before, a weariness that causes his words to be weighted like the iron bars upon the kiln. ]
...And cherish the time you have with him.
no subject
She nods again, more solemnly this time. ] I shall.
[ She hesitates. Her mind, and the air surrounding her, are heavy with unasked questions. It feels like there's much more to his words than simply the sage advice of one older and wiser.
Eventually, she ventures a question tentatively. ] Did you once know someone like me?
no subject
My descendant. [ He spares no details. Although they share similar struggles, they are too different to discuss the specifics. What matters is the virtue of their hearts, and their strength, that is comparable: ]
The Chosen struggled, yet prevailed. He honors his Calling. [ For their Star, for which the Light must be restored. ]
I believe... You are capable of doing the same. [ If she hasn't already, by the looks of it. It seems that all the pieces are there: herself, this knight, the sword... Time is the remaining factor, and, perhaps, patience. There will be more instances of frustration, more blocks, more trials, but if she is anything like the last of his Line, she will overcome them. Peace is worth all hardships, and there is no greater reward than the dawn breaking on a world without the Scourge's blight. ]
no subject
What sort of role is your descendant chosen to perform?
no subject
That is the duty of the Chosen.
[ His hollow voice is as solemn as a cathedral’s bell, and perhaps the quietness that follows betrays the gravity of both the Chosen’s task and the catastrophic circumstances of his world. ]
There is nothing more important.
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