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

[shroudedsecrets]

[ Honerva understood it, because she was too, such an enigma to herself and to others. For all that remains unsaid, the weight is there in the words that Pyra can bring herself to utter. So carefree she had ever seemed, to share her joy and love and care for others, but for this, to the point of her seeming to outright fear to finally be able to utter what she held close to her to another, if only to confirm how much this loss affected her, lest they find her weak or unworthy of hearing anything else...

Perhaps, in another life, such sentiments were never even considered, such aspects unheard of in strict demanding hierarchy that demanded only loyalty, and anything less or divergent a weakness. But from the experience of having all she held so dearly turned against her without even realizing it, Honerva well knew the vulnerability in that... let alone being able to share it with others... and perhaps why she held back so much, herself, whether it was intentional or not. The perception of strength was a mask, when in truth it was strength that allowed one to be vulnerable with others. To... finally trust them with what was precious and valued.

... Of course, much of Pyra was ever closely guarded as easy going as she ever seemed to be. It was why opening up to her at all had seemed... improbable, until the genuine inclinations could be felt in other things, as well as when the world itself had forced her to. There had been those moments; that Pyra would sharing her power but wished for anonymity of doing so. And now loving this Somnus so deeply that she feared it would be a weakness. That she went to such lengths to protect herself from any apparent frailty despite her sentimental nature...

She loved him and now she had lost him, and even if there were others here for her, to support her, there would still be no replacing him. Softly, she murmurs: ]

... You do. You... always will. I am sorry.

[ Their time here had been precious, even if they had other plans for their futures. Little could be done, to console for such heartache, but to hold her and listen, if not to her words but the palpable emotions there. ]

[iustaegis]

[ While with him, she often imagined herself as if walking into an ocean at night, the water so still it was a mirror to the stars. She had only been allowed to wade through them, to mingle with them, because he allowed her that miracle. They were only a reflection, but with him it had felt as if they were real-- stars of warmth, comfort, belonging, love, stars that were impossibly distant from her, but he brought to her, he gave to her.

He held her, he called her beautiful... She won't have this again. But his world will have him-- this blinding man-- at least for a little while longer as he moves forward, and then he will hopefully know peace. She holds onto this hope for him, she wants this for him, and... she remains inspired by him. She, too, must move forward to protect her own world.

With this she's said all that she can, all that she's needed. Someone knows that she's.... hurt. And it's-- enough. More than enough, because selfishness is a luxury not meant to her. That, and she cannot stand to allow herself to be supported by others for too long. She knows what she must do, she knows where she must ultimately be. She also knows that when the time comes, she will go alone. This is nice, being comforted is nice, but it's so much at the same time.

Pyra's head rises from her shoulder, her eyes misty from tears. ] Thank you... Honerva.

[shroudedsecrets]

[ The ones who need such things the most are the ones least likely to ask for it, accept it. One might never know it for the way Pyra carries herself. Perhaps that is purposefully done. Surely, she does not think Pyra would ever wish to allow her to see her in this way again. There is much she endures. Loss, is also, enduring.

Her face may no longer be pressed into her shoulder, but the support remains. It is not often that she is able to do even that much for another.

Perhaps she too, is sentimental, though no one would ever assume it of her. Her eyes are soft, a reflective expression in them, when Pyra pulls away. ]

What I have said before... still stands.

[ Her promise; Pyra has not become less capable to her for needing this. It's almost humbling, that she's shared this much. ]

[iustaegis]

[ This reassurance is something Pyra needs to hear. Not being less for having emotions or showing them-- for others, Pyra will always emphasize this. For herself, she struggles. A wall of doubt blocks her from allowing herself the same leniency.

It's wrong. What she feels... does make her less capable in terms of what she truly is. But so, too, do they influence her to do what she can to save her world. For that alone, even if they are against her nature, she endures feeling them.

But at least with Honerva's words, she may offer up proof against her doubts, like chisel against a wall. ]

I... think... it's time for me to return. [ This is enough for today. She can only take so much of another's time and sympathy. ]

[shroudedsecrets]

[ It may be some form of a dismissal, with the offering and reassurance made.

It would not be the first time they had departed from this particular temple after such a shared moment. Honerva will not press further on the subject, but she does not release Pyra's hand; instead she nods, giving her much of the light tug that Pyra herself had often given when their positions were... usually reversed, for matters like this. ]

... Then, shall we?

[iustaegis]

Mm.

[ They shall.

There's much she must think about the days to come, the loss she's experienced, her role in her world, and regarding the future. There's much to think about all she had admired and loved of Somnus that she may never be able to see again.

At the very least she can take comfort and guilt in this: that this hand being offered to her is given to her in sincerity and support-- it helps her move forward, it helps her towards that future she desires. A future not for herself, but for others. ]