02: insert creative title here

[iustaegis]

[ There is no longer the warmth of someone beside her when she rises, no arm around her, no shoulder for her head to be tucked into, no quiet breath she can hear, no soft rhythm of a heartbeat she can feel beneath her palm, no trace of a magic and light that feels as if she's bathed in the stars. There is no greeting with soft, quiet eyes and and an even softer touch, careful, caring, no murmur of her name. No feeling of acceptance, no slow rise thereafter, no touch in return to correct a strand of her hair with warm fingers lingering upon her cheek.

Instead there is emptiness as deep and overwhelming as the sea, perplexing, disorienting, storming, and cold. She peers into its maelstrom and knows that she ought to be there beneath it all, surrounding her, sealing her. That is the tomb she had chosen for herself for centuries, after all, basking in the safety of emptiness thus keeping the world safe in turn.  How can emptiness feel so heavy and crippling, as if she's never experienced it before? Has she learned nothing?

No, she has learned something. It is the same lesson she has learned before-- ]

  For those of his family and Eos, and for those of you who knew him, Somnus is no longer in Havenwell. I may only hope that he has returned to his homeworld in peace.

Please, let's all work together more to restore this world, so that perhaps those of us who wish to return to our worlds may also have the opportunity to return.

[ --that she must do what is necessary to secure the future of her world. She must return to her world. To return where she must be, to return to the state she had originally been in, to return to her Father and beg him for peace at last. Somnus has returned to his world, thereby ensuring its future. She has not forgotten that she, too, has the very same duty. Her love and her loss, this hollowness, this numbness-- she knows, she knows, it is painful, guilty; she ought not harbor any of these feelings. Yet terribly against her nature as it may be to experience emotions at all, they have one use in their turmoil and admiration for the world and all those in it: that they are reminding her, inspiring her to do what must be done to ensure that the future of her world remains. ]

A: Falconing. Morning.

He's gone, little partner. We are sorry.  [ It's only Horus to whom she murmurs, the falcon unwittingly left behind by man who owned it. Presently the raptor is perched upon her arm, and she carefully strokes along the side of its neck as it turns its head side to side, seemingly awaiting a command. With a slight lift of her hand it takes flight, and a few moments later she tosses up bait for it to take.

To anyone watching her, she appears at peace. She is smiling and calm, watching the bird glide throughout the dilapidated buildings of the city. It circles her, awaiting its next morsel, and she throws another treat-- farther this time, and it dives after it.

It does not seem as if she notices that you may be approaching her. This may be odd to those who know her well enough to have noticed how normally attentive she is to her surroundings. ]

B: Returning from the Labs, Evening
[ For those of her who have known her throughout these months, they may also know by now that she is not shy to engage in contact.

Nothing has changed on that front, and so when you happen to join her on one of the streets, she will greet you with a pleasant, serene smile. As is also typical. ] Oh, are you heading this same way...?

[ Have a hand offered to you, fingers outstretched. Should you take it, her grip is light. To those who have taken her hand often before, this may seem odd. ] Let's walk together.

Comments

ohhh kay here we go

[iustaegis]

[ This topic again, that of emergency contacts, offered as a point to be responsible. ]

I'm going to be moving in with Noctis and Prompto, if you have met them.

[ See, Honerva? No need to worry. She's surrounded by people. She's not pushing them away. ]

[shroudedsecrets]

[ It is not easy for her, to have such concern for others or to show it, but Pyra has more than deserved that from her for all they have experienced here. It is not often that she is so direct, but she has such a keen awareness lately, of that fear of being left alone.

The answer, however, surprises her. She doesn't know entirely what she had expected to hear, but there is familiarity in those names. And... moving? It does not lessen the concern, but she knows Pyra is well practiced at hiding herself. The least she can do is offer her support, even if it is a light squeeze of her hand. ]

... Are you? I am familiar with Prompto.

[ More than that; his is the name that softens her expression further, despite the gravity of the subject. ]

And Noctis... is a Prince of Eos. We have not truly been introduced, but I am aware of his connection to others.

[ Seeing him in passing while so many had flocked to Cor's bedside hardly counted as a meeting, but his was not an unfamiliar name to her at least. ]

It is good... that you will be with others. Your bonds with them must be strong.

[ As strong as Pyra might allow, which... certainly was difficult to tell what that might be. ]

[iustaegis]

[ Her lips part almost as if to correct her  on something-- not the bonds, but the title for Noctis. Not prince, but king.

Somnus, too, had been a king of Eos.

.... ] They are strong. [ "It is good that you will be with others"-- why, why is it good? For them? She shouldn't be here, but she's doing all she can to return to her homeworld by this, by enduring in holding another's hand, doing what she can. This is likely the way it will be in the future, engaging in contact, smiling, supporting, only better acted. She's glad to be here as well for these reasons, but the truth is that it's not good for them. She's dangerous, she's a construct.

It's not good for her, either. Holding hands had never been part of her initial purpose. Neither had been this, but she says it anyway: ]

I love them dearly.

[shroudedsecrets]

[ She gives Pyra's hand a firmer squeeze for that. ]

... When I was first pulled away from my universe, Prompto was one of the first people I met.

[ Here's a rare thing; her speaking about her connections... unprompted, in a lighter tone despite the gravity between them. Perhaps it speaks more for the significance of it. It has been two years, though she can barely grasp that. ]

At the time, I could not comprehend his kindness toward me... my state would not allow that. But... he always tried. He talked to me a lot, about his pictures and taught me to play cards with him, for distraction. Perhaps you can ask him to play, sometime.

[iustaegis]

[ Honerva is smiling and speaking of Prompto. She's giving her hand a squeeze.

Pyra remains smiling, and her fingers return the gesture. "For a distraction"-- she thinks Pyra needs a distraction. How her mask has fallen, apparently, if Honerva can assume one might help her in the first place... but she's also known Pyra for months. It seems that before Pyra even realized it's happened, the woman has already become close.

She blinks. ] 

Maybe... But I'm perfectly content sitting here with you right now.

[shroudedsecrets]

[ Coming from Pyra, she could believe it, although she would not consider herself adept at bringing such distraction, herself. As much as she was also in need of one, with her past few days of being so ill that she did not know if she would surface from it as herself. A real fear, but she was here, and able to be here for others.

Pyra would never say that she was in need, but she had made it a point to be here, anyway. ]

... So you are. But I am glad to know that you have them.

[iustaegis]

[ She closes her eyes. ]

Tell me more about this fleet you were on with Prompto?

[shroudedsecrets]

[ Honerva closes her eyes for a moment, trying to draw the memory of the fleet itself to her. She knows she'd described the situation to Pyra at least once before, but to provide her a distraction here, it would have to take a more personal turn. Time was strange and she had... changed so much, since that arrival. ]

... All right. What sort of... information are you after?

[ Better to clarify first. ]

[iustaegis]

How you were taken from your world. How others worked to return.

[shroudedsecrets]

[ Perhaps less personal than she thought, then. ]

... Very well. My arrival there was much as it is in this world; waking up somewhere unfamiliar, let alone given some cryptic message about our purpose. We did not know the method involved to steal us away, only that we wake up upon the host ship, and then are assigned to a crew. Many had already been there for a few years before my arrival. We were a part of what was called "Cycle 12", though we had learned that others taken from a previous cycle had broken away and were often... interfering with the host ship.

[ In other words, probably more complicated than even that sounded, but that was a mouthful as it was. ]

[iustaegis]

New arrivals seem to awaken every other month here. Did that happen upon the ship?

[shroudedsecrets]

It seemed more that they arrived every... [It takes her a moment to think of the amount of time.] Every week, or so. But it was not usually a large volume... at least, not by the time I was there. It may have been different earlier on.

[iustaegis]

Were any of you taken from different points in time? Or, perhaps post-death?

[ She knows Lup had somehow died, but it seems she had returned within the mechanics of her own world. She’s more interested in people being pulled right after death. ]

[shroudedsecrets]

There were others from my... universe who had also been pulled there.

[ She frowns at this; it's the first she's really spoken of it in a long while and it's no less unsettling. Some are also here, but they do not share a recollection of that shared time. ]

Some of them seemed to... experience... sleeping or disappearing and returning with new memories a few times, though to what extent, I do not know. There was another... [ Her son ] who had... informed me of occurrences that had taken place beyond my knowledge, so I feel that "my time" may be the one that is... behind. It no longer matters; I have no intention of returning to my universe.

[iustaegis]

[ Her chin raises. Honerva can be sure: she's listening. ]

How do you intend to do that?

[shroudedsecrets]

... The means is beyond us at present.

[ Any plans, a flicker beyond her current vision, but she does not believe it impossible. However, all she has stated is intention; it is difficult to have control in a world that purposefully limits you. Pyra's hand is still held though there's a slight tenseness to the previously gentle touch. ]

We had not made the jump proper before this world ensnared us instead. A suitable alternative would need to be found once we know more of the true confines and intention of this universe.

[iustaegis]

[ After a long moment, she turns her gaze back to Honerva, her attention perhaps caught by the way her hand had tensed. ]

You mean to... abandon your world, even though you have more of “your time” there?

[shroudedsecrets]

[ She is quiet for a long moment, though she is not looking at Pyra now. ]

... What I am abandoning is lifetimes of darkness and pain, for the chance to be happy, with those who have accepted me.

[ She'd had plenty of time there. More than she should ever have had at all, and so much of it spent as someone else. ]

One might even consider it a mutual benefit. That universe would be far better off without my presence, for what has already come of it.

[iustaegis]

Mm, and you truly do have a wonderful family, here.

[ On the subject of Honerva not returning to her own world, however... Pyra abandons this topic. It's not worth touching upon if it will drive a wedge between them, and in any case, she's not currently mentally equipped to debate it. ] I am happy for you.

[ For what it is worth, though, she can sympathize of a world being better off without her. Only, the only way to possibly ensure she no longer exists is back in her own world, not in any other. ]

[shroudedsecrets]

... yes, I do.

[ She knows it, appreciates it. Which is another reason why losses in this world are something that shakes her up, even if it is not happening to her directly. As much as she is here to support another, she does not trust herself to be able to handle any abrupt direct loss in any stable way. ]

There were others, meant to go with us, but... this world did not ensnare them.

[ Hard to know what happened there, but the implications were not pleasant. She draws a breath, exhales. Distractions were meant to be pleasant for both, that was not happening here. ]

Walk with me? Perhaps we may find a more comfortable place, if you would like to braid my hair.

[ It was pulled back, mostly to keep from catching on to anything, but certainly not with the ease and care of Pyra's braiding. ]

[iustaegis]

[ Walk with her, she asks, and so Pyra stands because she had no preference-- other than holding her hand while doing so.

She's answering questions that seem to broach uncomfortable subjects, diminishing herself, she's offering her hair to be braided again... This is how Honerva tries to offer comfort. Does Pyra seem this pathetic (her words, not Honerva's) after a loss, she wonders? She's here, isn't she? She's talking, she holding her hand. She isn't stagnant. ]

...You're really worried about me, aren't you?

[shroudedsecrets]

[ Honerva rises to her feet as Pyra does, though tilts her head at her at the question. ]

... I am.

[ She wonders if that surprises Pyra, or if she had thought her incapable of it. Either way, she keeps her words simple, plain enough to carry their intent. ]

Strange as it must be to hear from me, I do care for you.

[iustaegis]

Not at all.

[ She shakes her head, casual. ]

You have a good heart.

[ To have a family here means that she's cared for and gives care in return. Not just anyone can have something like that. To Pyra, Honerva having a good heart means that she can care for another. ]

[shroudedsecrets]

[ 'You have a good heart.'

Honerva takes to the statement as well as she usually does of a compliment of this nature, meaning her gaze abruptly drifts away and she shakes her head slightly in response, despite all else she's doing to try to comfort Pyra.

She labors under the belief that her heart is far too damaged for all the years of misuse to be called good, but she is capable of care, and deeply, when she does.

She doesn't know where to lead them, however; she knows Rawna's temple must likely be more comfortable for Pyra since she is here, so there must be a place to sit that allows for more space for braiding without the cloying reminders of that confession room. ]

[iustaegis]

[ Pyra isn't doing the leading as they walk this time, seemingly preoccupied, and will gladly be tugged along wherever.

She glances at her. ] Mmm....Nothing to say to that? Do you agree, then?

[ Knowing what she does know of Honerva, and how little she seems to value herself, she assumes that Honerva doesn't agree. She expected her to dismiss what she says; instead, there is silence on Honerva's end. ]