sorceress

[aethersite]

lannamused​:

“Aye, I have. S’good and hearty, it is. Though I came to bother of you of my own free will, actually. Runar’s been distracted,” Meiko crossed the room in only a few strides, but was mindful of not to set it down anywhere just yet. She didn’t know which surface bore some very important notes or whatnot. “The twins and Minfilia took him up on a tour of the place, so I beat him to it.”

She took in the sight of the chamber, finally having a moment to really focus on its surroundings. Like Urianger, Y’shtola seemed to have fully settled into her home here – perhaps even moreso, considering how the others treated her with such reverence. She wondered what Thancred’s residence would look like if he had bothered to settle anywhere. It’d probably be dirtier than he’d ever like to admit.

“Aside from tirelessly workin’ to save the realms, as is per usual with our line o’ work…have you been well?” 

She had to wonder if Y’shtola’s sight had grown worse since her arrival here. Was that even something that could happen, seeing as how this was her soul and not her body? Her reaction to her and A’kihiko’s aether – hers being significantly more full of light than her brother’s, as she was absorbing the brunt of each Waden – had been a bit disarming earlier.

The archon’s ears twitch as the admission in nothing less than some short realization, but quickly accepts the choice made on her behalf. “Nary a more occupying task than giving a tour.” Y’shtola mused briefly with a thankful nod, glad that Runar fell into a new task instead. “I presume he will make time to thank you for it.”

She lets out a short sigh, to clear herself of the thought, to refocus on the question posed. “Yes I am well, as well as one could be in the present state that we have been delineated. My life among the Night’s Blessed is one I have been grateful for in my time here.” Y’shtola tone grows somber, “It is a circumstance that is destine to change, and I have come to appreciate it nonetheless.” Just as she had full intention to rid the Night’s Blessed of the light tainted sky, she fully intended to return to the source.

“However, I believe your inquiry is better posed for you. Lightwardens in both Lakelend and Il Mheg dispatched without another merging. Though I have known you to face the worst and arise the victor it is still worth asking the same. How do you fare?” Y’shtola held in mind, even with her aired question, the certain clarity that something was not right. It is easy to peg it to the workings of the Exarch and his secrets, but it meant more that Meiko was feeling alright regardless of what she could peruse through the reaches of her sight.

[aethersite]

"nostalgia weighs heavy on the soul." from mhitra!

Caught in a moment together among the air of Apkallu falls, Y’shtola realizes that much more time has passed sine they last spoke in person. The fault she wholly claimed but it did not change the clarity of its factual nature as they continued to speak. Mhitra's work among the Sons of Saint Coinach spelled promising as she shared the details between vaunted and joyous successes among failed trails and lost knowledge. She often related her work to memories they held in their home prior to venturing to Eorzea. That often the habits and mannerisms of Sharlayanas seemed to transcend the effects of time – and she of course couldn’t agree more.

The likes of tomes discovered in vast unearthed allagan ruins correlated to the tomes discovered in secret from under the protectors of knowledge among high ceiling libraries. Long journeys across Eorzea reminded of the treks across Sharlayan into areas they knew they should have very well avoided. In all recollections, one commonality rings true – that they had fared this realm side by side and had depended on each other for more than many knew.

Each tale though ending is high spirits and fair laughs and jest at each other’s expense, that doleful reality remained underlying.

“Nostalgia weighs heavy on the soul."

Mhitra aired her words, and Y’shtola believed she had the right of it. Though she wouldn’t make any vaunted promises to increase the frequency of their meetings, and knew that Mhitra would not expect as much, Y’shtola knew that the weight of nostalgia would retain their faith in one another. Should weeks, months or years pass, her bond with Mhitra would never change.

“That it does.” She concedes initially, though finding some amusement in an effort not to outwardly linger in somber tones, “if only it meant no longer marking yourself an unwitting accomplice in imagined schemes you claim to be of my making. Or have you forgotten that half of which were of your design?”

[aethersite]

hyprmemes​:

memories/the past starters edit as you see fit!

please don’t remind me

i can’t stop thinking about it, that moment is on replay in my head every moment of my life

do you think we can ever go back to that time?

i don’t like thinking about the past

could you help me remember?

i’ve never forgotten and i don’t think i’ll ever be able to

can’t you just… start moving on?

my nightmares are never made up, they’re just reruns of things i’d rather forget

visiting this place again after so much time is giving me whiplash

i don’t remember you being like this the last time we met

i thought i’d never see this place again

please, please try to remember, you don’t know how much actually depends on it

no, not like that, that’s now how that sounded like

is this what you’ve been doing, reliving the past over and over and over again?

i remember when we were younger and the first moments we started losing all hope

nostalgia weighs heavy on the soul

you can’t even pretend to remember, can you

i thank you not to bring that up again

can’t you help me reminisce instead of highlighting all the bad

which version of us do you prefer, the then or the now

always remembering can be as dangerous as always forgetting

i don’t want to hold the past against you

but what if you could turn back time

what if some things are meant to be memories and nothing else

god, i can’t even trust my own memories anymore

i can’t tell the difference between what i recall and what i made up

you were so much taller in my memories, so much scarier

i spend so much time just thinking about what could have been

yes, i do, okay? i regret that moment like i regret a thousand others, are you happy now?

you and i remember two very different things

is that what they’ve been telling you happened?

that’s not how i remember things, i think someone’s lied to you

are we even remembering the same moment?

yeah, that’s what it was! that’s insane, are you sure we weren’t there together?

no i can’t let it go, it feels important but i can’t fucking remember it

is that all that’s left in your mind of our time together?

things were so much better back then

i wish i could just live in my best memories

[lannamused]

@aethersite​

Meiko had tried to find Thancred after he stormed off, but when that man wanted to vanish without a trace, no one could stop him. 

Was Y’shtola completely right about his feelings over Minnie? Yes. Did they need to round off their overdue reunion with an argument? She didn’t think so. It had been frustrating to hear how the three senior Scions had been estranged from each other prior to her arrival, but she chose not to make it her business unless it interfered with them returning to the Source. For now, it hadn’t. She was at least glad to see Y’shtola and Urianger working together on that tablet; Thancred would return when he was done with his brooding.

Like herdin’ bloody gaelicats, she thought. She was seated in the middle of Slitherbough, watching her wee brother running between members of the Night’s Blessed offering to do errands and chores as he often did. By the end of the business in Doma, she had concluded it was some sort of anxiety-soothing habit of his. 

All the same, it was a relief to be able to have him in sight; for Meiko, it had been a helish three weeks between her unintended solo fight against Elizenos and finding that whatever-it-was in the Crystal Tower. For him, yoinked away just before Zenos’ announced appearance on the battlefield, it had been a year. Just a bit less than Alphinaud and Alisaie. Hearing that had fucked her up, too.

Even thinking about it gave her a headache. She pinched the bridge of her nose and squeezed her eyes shut to try and soothe it, ignoring the faint high-pitched ringing in her ears. There was just so much to do. To think about. While they labored away here, the Garlean Empire could attack Eorzea again at any time. Yes, there were grumblings of discontent within the providences, but that was barely a comfort. In addition to that, the Scions own bodies – save for her own –could also only last so long. Poor Krile, working tirelessly just to keep their hearts beating … how long could she keep that up before it took a fatal toll on her?

She knew she could have reassured herself if she returned briefly to the Source. She could do it, a least according to the Exarch, seeing as how she was the only one of them summoned properly… but she hadn’t. She would if they really needed her to, but it didn’t feel right coming back without the rest of them. She couldn’t –

“How fair thee, Meiko?”

The Viera looked up, jolted from her thoughts. Urianger could be strangely stealthy at times. Had the pixies taught him that? Or Thancred?

“Doin’ fine,” she murmured, watching him step towards the nearby cauldron to fetch himself a bowl of stew from the village’s dinner pot. It had cooled significantly since being put out when they first arrived, but it was the kind of meal that could be good warm or cold. She imagined he had enough aetheric know-how to heat it up if he needed. “Did Master Matoya finally kick you out?”

Urianger chuckled and shook his head, helping himself to a large spoonful. “Nay, not quite yet. I only hath decided to taketh a short break for a meal. Then I shall return to our work.”

Meiko wanted to ask on the progress of the tablet, but she knew Urianger would give her a lot of details she wouldn’t understand. Instead, she glanced back towards the doors that led to Y’shtola’s room.

“She eatin’ in her room then?”

“The lady insisted on forgoing her meal.” He moved to sit himself on the ground to eat. “At least for now.”

“Uh-huh.” Meiko frowned. Then she stood up,  moving to fill another bowl from the pot. “Well, if Tataru were here, she’d not stand for that shite. So m’goin’ to risk insistin’ otherwise to the lady myself.”

“Shall thee?” Urianger mused. “I wish you luck.”

“Aye.” 

Once upon a time, Meiko had been far too intimidated by Y’shtola to even think about engaging with the Archon in conversations outside of Scion business, let alone risk disagreeing with her.  It was a combination of the Miqo’te’s general no-nonsense mien (not unlike her and Hiko’s adoptive mother) and the fact that she was so much more vastly intelligent and well-spoken and everything that reminded Meiko of what she wasn’t. But that skittishness had gave away to regret when the Scions had fallen into their death-like slumber – she could have done more, she could have been more for all of them, rather than allow A’kihiko to play the hero alone. Rather than sink into the background whenever she could, or run off to the Golden Saucer to cope with the reality of their many burdens…

She hesitated, checking to make sure she had included a spoon with the bowl of lukewarm stew she had come to deliver – she had, should she have brought water as well? no, don’t overthink it – before knocking thrice on the door. When Y’shtola bid her come in, she did so, trying to come across as casual possible:

“Y’know m’sure you’ve had this stew plenty in the time you’ve been here, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a wee bit. Runar and the others made it for you too, you know.” 

[aethersite]

The air wafting with the faint smell of meat and broth left an inkling of what may be said by her newly admitted guest. Odd -- she initially thought considering that same inkling that Meiko would be the one to bare it where Runar would normally be at the center of a familiar pattern. A brief glance confirmed she hadn’t misheard who was at her chamber door.

Y’shtola found herself not seconds ago absorbed in the correlations between ronkan iconography and language that were etched into the relic. Deciphering was simply an act of placing the often cryptic dialect into something palpable. Though, at the behest of a familiar face not seen in years, Y’shtola allows the disruption.

“No more peculiar than the validity of your assertion.” She says initially, touching at the pages of an open tome adjacent to the tablet before closing it. She smiles regardless after the outward musing beckoning her company further into the chamber. “If truth be told, I suspect that Runar may request you bear the task, less he perform it himself.” Not that she considered it anything more than an occurrence of his knack for worry. If it had been him, she may warrant it be left on any available surface in an effort to retain focus -- time was never so forgiving. However, she wouldn’t bare the mantle of ignorance to this reoccurring eventuality, nor the person bringing to her attention, this time at least.

If the bells tolled further in her desire for discovery, the possibility of missing the hour of Runar’s stew would have passed unknowingly and Urianger’s departure only spoke to the same. He, being of mind to take a break, had clearly signified the time that had passed and a realization that she had let “only one more moment” turn in to several more moments passing.

“Though that is a far less pressing concern. I presume your bearing stew means you have partaken in a bowl of your own.” She said, the reaches of her sight eyeing her company in the bounds of her chamber.

[aethersite]

ind. private,  and selective y’shtola rhul roleplay blog from final fantasy xiv .