Like thunder screaming out for a flash of lightning

[flawed_immortality]

[Cor's not great at this whole party thing, especially as this time it's not just a family gathering but intended for the friends they'd made here as well. The video starts with Cor sitting in a cushy white and grey striped armchair, a stone fireplace beside him glowing warmly. It's a classy set up and far above the townhouses they've been in.]

It's New Years, celebrations are in order. His Majesty, Ignis, and I have obtained a larger space and we'd like to offer our home for the festivities. Feel free to stop in, have some snacks, and await midnight with us.

[Locked from Regis]
[He looks a little paranoid at first, double, then triple checking that he's done this right.]

It's also his Majesty's birthday. He's always eager to sweep it under the New Years celebrations but he has no reason to shy away from any such celebrations here. Don't let him.

[Action - Party Start~]
[The new house is really very nice. It's nothing compared to the Citadel but it is very nice. Clean and homey with the accents of warm wood that, if Cor didn't know better, he'd have thought was reclaimed.

There's a fire in the hearth, hor d'ouerve trays laid out on the kitchen counters. The replicator is of course available to anyone who wants something specific, though you might be surprised to find she responds to voice commands and is distressingly cheerful to talk to. The house is open for examination! Go on, explore folks, mingle away.]

[Action - Midnight]
[As chill as the night is Cor makes a point of slipping through the crowd throughout the evening. There's a number of Lucis Caelums and other magic users as well. So when the time comes near he does his best to usher everyone into the backyard, or at least onto the back porch.

He's certainly not the one to lead the countdown, no someone more energetic can do that, but at the final count a series of spells get fired into the night sky. They may not be traditional fireworks but a few Flares, Thundaras, and spells he has no names for will work well enough, don't you think?]

Comments

[astralera]

You are irritatingly similar in many, many ways, but I know you are more familiar with the dance of combat than he is.

[meridio]

[ How ironic. Half the reason he's more familiar is because he was trying to compensate for what he lacked that his brother possessed.

His eyes flit to her hand, then back to her face. Wordlessly, he accepts her hand. ]

[astralera]

[ With his hand now in hers, Era leads him back to where she had been dancing. Given that she wants to take the opportunity to talk (though she does know better than to hold out hope of an actual conversation), she shifts so that the steps of her dance will keep them close enough for relative privacy. ]

I had meant to track you down sooner, but found myself preoccupied with the holidays.

[meridio]

[ With little to no prior knowledge of the process, he follows suit. Where she guides him, he'll go. Although he may drag his feet more often than not, his steps will carry no reluctance.

And if he looks down, as he does now, it's to watch Era's face instead of the shuffling of their feet. His silence invites her to continue. Most likely, she means to tell him about their last encounter. ]

[astralera]

[ She leads the dance without issue issue, though does her best to do so in a way that makes it harder for him to drag his feet. ]

I've an ability called the Echo that grants me certain gifts, the most notable of which are visions of the past. [ Seeing no reason to tip-toe around the subject, Era dives straight into it, as she is wont to do. ] I lived through a selection of your memories.

[ Era hopes it goes without saying that this isn't something she can exactly control, given how inopportune a moment she was struck by it. ]

[meridio]

[ The explains everything, doesn't it. It's a troubling disclosure, but not enough to trip Somnus, who dedicates a portion of his attention to recognizing a pattern behind Era's movement. He doesn't have to ask if she glimpsed his memories on purpose or not: That he had to call his brother for help is answer enough. ]

Which memories?

[astralera]

[ As she thinks of how best to describe each one, Era spins away and back quickly in beat with the music, skirts flaring and tail tucked close enough to keep from inadvertently slapping anyone.

It gives her long enough to gather her thoughts together, and in the next moment she resumes their previous dance positioning. ]

You lost a game of chess again. But you didn't mind losing, because your brother really is amazing. You were so happy he would hold your hand and spend time together with you.

[ She frowns, the hand that still holds his tightening briefly. ]

...You sent your soldiers to find him, seeking to converse with him. You thought he abandoned all prospect of discussion. You didn't know that he thought you sent those soldiers to kill him.

[ There is a lot more she could add, but instead she keeps it brief. ]

Later, you meet. His words are broken by a cough, and you attack him.

He holds Aera's corpse. The Scourge oozes from his face like tar, and bursts from his body in tendrils. People scream and flee. He's a monster now, though still your brother. Your duty is to end his suffering.

[ The more she speaks, the more detached she sounds; careful to keep from feeling emotions that were difficult enough pry herself free of to begin with. ]

Standing on a pool of black, staring down at his corpse and hers.

Meeting again, millennia later. You ask not for forgiveness, but understanding. He is infuriated—

[ For the first time Era doesn't quite land her step, heel slipping, threatening to roll her ankle in a way that promises discomfort. She startles, adjusting her positioning immediately, tail shifting to improve her balance as she does.

Despite doing her best to detach herself, remembering Ardyn as he was and could be was distressing to her all the same. Era brushes it off, pushing forward to the last memory, which she's certain he will know the context of. ]

'You love him. That's why you suffer in silence.'

[meridio]

[ She slips, but rights herself before he can reach out to halt the potential fall.

The memories she gleaned from him span his early years and jump to his recent past. It doesn't surprise him that his brother thought that when things were coming to a head (and, though erroneous then, is deserved now). What surprises him, if by a margin, is the recital of Pyra's words. Although he doesn't miss a step, he momentarily narrows his eyes. Did Era experience the context for those words?

No matter. ]

You collapsed when you were struck by these visions. Are there other side effects?

[astralera]

I've never collapsed from them until this world. It has always been as though I've been struck in the head and staggered, but never to such an extent.

[ Though she imagines part of it is the damage her soul has taken between Deerington and Havenwell. As for other 'side effects'... She gives a small shrug of her shoulders. ]

Now that the Echo is stronger, I feel as they do during visions. It it difficult at times to separate what is mine and what is theirs.

[meridio]

[ Is that why she called his brother thus, he wonders. But that this gift is getting stronger is troubling news when he considers earlier implications. ]

Can you not control it at all?

[astralera]

No, and I know of no other Echo bearers who can. It is all passive.

[ It is just as well that she chose to discuss this while dancing, since it helps with her focus. ]

My partner and his ilk have what they call the 'Gift'. It seems to simply be the Echo, albeit with far more control.

I believe if I can learn to control my soul as they do, I should be able to control the visions.

[meridio]

[ He glances at her horns. Emet-Selch has no such appendages, but there's clearly more than meets the eye to that ancient being. ]

And if you are not able?

[astralera]

[ She frowns, averting her gaze. ]

I will be able.

[ With how potent her visions are as of late there is no other option. ]

[meridio]

[ Single-minded words. He understands the sentiment, though, and he doesn't nearly understand the Echo enough to say more on the matter. Emet-Selch is there for that.

Wordlessly, he turns his attention to the next step of the dance. By now he's recognized the pattern, and it's only a matter of moving with more grace and syncing his steps with those of Era's. ]

[astralera]

[ She lets the silence linger, feeling no need to break it. On these universes beyond her own, Era has spoken more than she can remember, and it's nice to not feel the need to. Dancing with only the music humming through her horns is enjoyable, and so is not needing to worry about her shoes getting dirtied by the feet of her dance partner.

After one song ends and another begins, Era changes the steps and breaks the lull in their conversation. ]

Has he spoken with you yet?

[meridio]

[ Kept on his toes, he divides his attention between the new steps and her question once more. It's easy to know whom she means. So she really was responsible. ]

He has.

[ Somnus volunteers no more. He and his brother's conversation is private and intimate. He won't share the details with another. ]

[astralera]

[ She has little interest in the details, though she does have a few lingering questions. ]

And did you manage a conversation?

[meridio]

We corresponded.

[ It was conversation enough, and technically is still ongoing. Everyone is getting what they wanted. ]

[astralera]

[ She brightens, clearly pleased. ]

Don't let this chance go to waste, even if it may amount to naught.

[meridio]

[ Hasn't the chance already been seized? While his heart swelled with devastating relief from words of affection, his apprehension has grown since. He fears this will all amount to far more than it should. In contrast to that of Era's, his expression is decidedly gloomier, though not overly so. ]

I shall do what I must.

5.0 spoilers

[astralera]

[ Era notes the slight shift in his expression, and her own brightness fades somewhat, shifting into something not quite what it was.

His words are a sentiment she shares, though she doesn't think they view it the same way. ]

Do what you must. Become what you must. So long as your duty is fulfilled, it matters naught how you do so. If you must sacrifice the few for the many, then you must.

[ Her gaze, having gone somewhere distant as she speaks, shifts back to Somnus' face. ]

But how does one determine when something must be done?

[ She doesn't seek an answer, but hopes for him to think on the question, even if only briefly. ]

I am the Warrior of Light, blessed six times over by the Mothercrystal of my world and its reflections. I am her sword and shield, duty bound to protect the five worlds that remain.

One such world — known as the First — was bathed in stagnating, corrupted Light for one hundred years. There was no night, only Light could be seen in the sky. It flooded the world, turning all but a small portion of it to uninhabitable wasteland. Those that remained banded together as best they could to survive, with the ever constant threat of Sin Eaters...

[ She trails off, thoughts whirling. There is still so much to do on the First, but so many other priorities now as well. She shakes her head, jostling her mind back to some semblance of order. ]

They hunger for living aether found in blood and flesh. Mindless beasts of blinding white, whose touch infects and quickly breeds more of their ilk.

It is a fate worse than death. The soul itself is corrupted, the balance of aether sent askew, twisting the body into horrific forms. They burn from within — an icy burn in veins no longer filled with red. It eats at the body and mind, bleaching away all but the faintest traces of self.

It is agony beyond measure, and there is no cure save for death.

[ For all that her voice dictates this without wavering, the unaffected mask she wears can only do so much when her hands are trembling against him. ]

...I have compared it to the Starscourge in the past, for all that it a disease of aether and not of flesh. It was not until the Echo connected with your brother that I realized how accurate my comparison truly was.

[ Era figures Somnus assumed such a thing happened already. ]

I tell you this because I was to that corrupted Light what Ardyn is to the Starscourge.

I tell you this, brother of my brother, because I was given a divine duty by the Mother of my world that defines every aspect of who I am. I believe you can understand that, to some extent.

[ There is so much more to it. So, so much more. But to give the basics will need to be enough for now. To let him know... What? That she can understand him and his actions, in some way beyond what the Echo told her? ]

I suppose... In the end, there is a difference between doing what you are told and doing what you must.

Must you impose such distance upon your family, Somnus?

[meridio]

[ The Light of the First sounds startling like the darkness that plagues Eos. But of course—the true origins of the Scourge are shrouded in mystery, and his isn't the only world out there. It reasons that others might have suffered similar afflictions, related or not. Era's hands tremble against him and he says nothing of it, listening instead with an expression of neutrality.

That she's connected with his brother by way of the Echo in the past doesn't surprise him. It would explain how his brother knew to take care of her in the interim and aftermath. "Brother," she calls him. Perhaps her attachment to his brother is more than that of friendship.

Naturally, he understands what divine duty can do to a soul. She and he are similar in that respect. But no matter how similar, they are not the same. ]

That is not for you to decide in my stead.

[astralera]

[ Era begins to speak, pauses, lifts a hand to her throat and presses a small amount of healing aether into it, then resumes. ]

It is not for myself nor any of your gods to decide... However, neither is it your choice alone.

[ The hand still near her throat moves, gesturing to those around them. ]

You've taken choices away from your family for so many years, Somnus.

[ Her tone is far from judgmental. There is empathy in the lilt of her voice, and a touch of sorrow. ]

If you must atone, find another way — one that does not bring more sadness to their lives. That love I know you hold for them is meant to be shared.

[ Era moves her arms again, this time to pull Somnus down a bit closer to her own height as she stands on her tip-toes. She presses a kiss to his cheek. ]

I gave you no choice tonight because it is Regis' birthday. Because, even if you merely lurk in the shadows, your presence is the best gift I could give him.

[ She smiles. :) ]

[meridio]

[ It isn't about atonement. It was never about atonement, even if she and everyone else believe otherwise.

The matter of Regis is quite simple. He had no intention of tossing presents at someone who would prefer not to draw such attention to himself. It was also Regis who agreed that distance was wise until such a time came when that decision would no longer be necessary. Matters of the heart are painfully delicate, and they reached an agreement that night.

All Somnus wanted was to wait just a little longer. Still in the middle of corresponding with his brother over a topic of great significance, his thoughts and emotions have been in quiet disarray. He'll confess to this much, however: given his protracted existence, a little longer might have been longer than ordinary mortals would expect. He's a coward, after all.

It doesn't matter. He's here, and not by his choice. Glancing down at the floor over Era's shoulder, he barely reacts to the kiss at first. Another moment passes and he stops moving altogether, bringing their clumsy dance to a sudden halt with a faraway look in his eyes. ]

[astralera]

[ Her smile slowly fades at the extended, distant silence. It withers away completely at the sudden cessation of their dance.

She withdraws immediately once he stops, hands pulled to her chest as she takes a half-step away. For all that she has an inkling as to what Somnus is like, all she truly has to work with are assumptions. For all that she's come to care for the man in front of her, it was a care largely forced upon her by the Echo, and something that is not reciprocated.

Era has overstepped, she thinks. There's naught for it but to wait, give space, apologize as needed.

She had never meant to entangle herself with a family not her own, but events lead her down this inevitable path and so here she is. Trying to aid with family drama more confusing than the intricacies of highborn society when she has only recently discovered the true meaning of family herself.

Still, she is the Warrior of Light. Ever stumbling into complex messes whether she wills it or not, and ever doing her best to fumble her way to success. ]

My apologies.

[ Her apology is earnest, though Era is an unfailingly honest person (to everyone save herself). ]

...People care about you, Somnus. Pray keep that in mind once the heavens turn.

[ He has family here, and that is something Era can only have in her dreams. No matter how she yearns for her family she cannot be with them, and every day it kills her a little more inside. ]