#f-ortuity;seliph

[caraidean]

@f-ortuity​ liked for a Heroes plot || Ishtar & Seliph

Peace.

That was the word she'd been looking for to describe her life in the past few months. It had felt like some infinite load had been taken off her shoulders, like she could walk around Grannvale's halls without feeling pressure to perform to some standard or the crushing weight of her own mind slowing her down. It had even been noted by others, the lightness in her step and the gradual return of her smile as she worked to move on past her old life and into this new one, something she'd never expected to have. So different yet so familiar...

'Maybe I was just meant to fall in love with an Emperor.'

Even the rude awakening of the trip to Askr hadn't broken her general raised spirits, the woman rapidly adjusting and having tear-filled reunions with departed friends and family. So Tine wasn't here yet, that was of no matter - and truth be told she felt like her cousin had seen enough conflict for her life, she was satisfied with what she had. Let Tine stay away from this war that Ishtar had devoted herself to now, seeing another step in her healing available to her here. Perhaps, now that she was fighting on the right side, she might even have some sense of redemption in her life.

It helped that her lover had come here with her. She'd grown used to waking next to Seliph in their shared quarters in Askr, the quiet mornings they could spend together that the pace and demands of their lives in Grannvale said they would have to wait to have.

"The summoner says another person that claims to know  you has joined us for the moment." She'd been told by a passing stranger, someone from a world not her own - or at least a time. She'd done her best to learn, but there were so many of them to keep track of...

"I'll check it out. Thank you." Ishtar said politely, and she headed to the grand hall. The smile that had been on her face that morning had grown a little wider at the news, wondering who it could be - Nanna, perhaps? Or or uncle? Maybe one of her cousins could have come to join despite how happy she had been to keep them out of this, seeing them would still be a delight-

The reality had brought a wave of cold water down on her, and she'd frozen on the steps in disbelief. The man hadn't seen her yet - thank the gods, he hadn't seen her - but there was no mistaking him. Height, hair, tone of voice, it was unmistakable. For a few moments, she wondered which Julius this would be, which one she'd be talking to - if she'd get a chance to apologize to the person she once knew, before the darkness had taken his heart. But the words he was speaking, ranting to the summoner were just-

"How dare I hunt children? You misunderstand. I was simply educating my subjects...The gifted ones, at any rate."

He was still defending that - that monstrous act. Ishtar stood, frozen on the stairs before turning on a dime and fleeing from the hall with a strangled sound escaping her mouth, eyes wide and heart pounding faster than she could believe. This wasn't happening - this was not happening. She was meant to be free, it was all over, she was meant to be free-

Ishtar scrambled into her room, past her startled lover and locking the door behind her on pure impulse. Eyes wide she tried to speak to herself, tried to get her thoughts in order, but the only noise that seemed to come out was a wrenching cry of anguish as she sank to the ground, back against the door. She was doing better - she was doing better, why did he have to be here? Why? Why him?

"No...no. No!" A fist smacked against the wooden door from the other side, but her head was in her hands as she trembled and resisted with all her strength the overpowering urge to scream. "No!"

[caraidean]

💎 {for seliph --> @f-ortuity }

send me a 💎 and my muse will rate your muse’s physical appearance on a scale of 1-10 || Open

“You’re joking, surely.”

Ishtar’s reply to the question had been one of almost complete incredulity, the girl staring at her cousin with an astonished look on her face. She wasn’t able to deny the question however, the game that Tine had tricked her into to try and lighten her spirits having very clear rules. She supposed she could always refuse to answer and storm off out of the castle’s study and back to her room, but with Tine leaving tomorrow…she didn’t want to end things on such a poor note.

So instead, with cheeks flaming crimson, she downed the rest of her glass of wine in an attempt to both buy time and get some more courage as she tried to find the words. The easy way out would just be to answer her cousin’s question bluntly, give the number on the scale, but…

“This is aesthetically, right?” She asked for confirmation, getting a nod and knowing grin from her cousin as she groaned a little. “Fine, fine. Uh…he’s pretty, I guess? Look. His face is just so…delicate. His hair’s all smooth and long and when he smiles he looks like the most gentle person in the world. But then there’s-”

She swallowed a little. “I guess it’s not that surprising, since he’s a soldier, but have you seen him with his shirt off? I swear - oh, shut up, it was an accident and he didn’t even know I was there -” She had to stop her words to toss a pillow at her gasping cousin, a glare following. “…anyway…let’s just say there’s a lot of. Ah. Definition going on there. It’d be very, very difficult to put him as…I mean…”

Eventually she gave in, groaning and slumping her shoulders. “He’s a ten, okay! Gods, Tine, stop laughing!”

[caraidean]

{ @f-ortuity, Seliph} 😘 Here comes Seliph for his first /attempt/ at kissing Ishtar, but one he ultimately gets too nervous over and ends up chickening out of.

@f-ortuityRead More for length

“It’s a strange holiday, isn’t it?”

Ishtar let out a small hum of agreement from where she was standing, leaning over the balcony with her eyes narrowed slightly. She glanced down into the courtyard, watching the couples come and go with quiet whispers and anxious glances, and it made her nerves twinge. She couldn’t remember if she had ever ‘celebrated’ this holiday with Julius during their engagement. At first they were both too young, then he was frequently too sick or busy, and then towards the end he…seemed to lack any desire for that kind of contact with her at all. He was just possessive, not caring what he did with her as long as nobody else could have her. 

Maybe they had celebrated it, once or twice. But it was locked away somewhere in her mind, in a deep and dark place where she can’t think it up willingly for fear of the pain it could cause her to remember the times he was good to her. It always left this strange conflict in her soul, unsure if she was better off remembering Julius as the kind boy or as the monstrous emperor in waiting - and not quite able to unite the two in her mind. So instead she shoved it all away, trying to think of anything but, and she was starting to make some process in healing. Thanks in no small part to the man trying to talk to her right now. 

“I suppose.” She said, turning around to face him and leaning back against the balcony. Seliph looked nervous, but she supposed she couldn’t blame him - running the empire was stressful, he must have plenty to be worried about. Arvis had seemed to be aging a year each day towards the end of it all. “It’s a little cute, I suppose. Provided it’s all harmless.”

“I think it is.” Seliph seemed a little more relaxed now, walking past the french window and out onto the balcony with her. Ishtar had grown past her phase of locking herself away in her room all the time, but she still tended to prefer to be alone - it had taken a great deal of convincing by Tine to let others have keys to her room. Tine had one, as did Seliph and Julia, just to check in on her if she ever fell into her melancholia and vanished again. 

“I didn’t hear you knock.” She said, pointedly, and Seliph coloured a little as he looked away. Ishtar let out a slight chuckle at his reaction, shaking her head with an amused sigh. “It’s fine. I don’t think it was locked anyway.”

“It wasn’t.” He said after a moment, and that was that. Ishtar glanced down from her balcony again, but the gardens mostly seemed to be empty, as if everyone was aware of the clouds starting to gather above the castle. It was going to storm later, she could tell, feeling Mjolnir’s slight tug of sympathy towards the sky that made some of the hairs on her right arm stand on end. “Were you spying on them?”

“I’m sorry?” Ishtar was snapped out of her thoughts by that question, turning her head back to him and raising an eyebrow. Seliph gave a sheepish grin, nodding towards the courtyard. 

“I thought you were looking at someone down there. I remember overhearing that Tine had planned to spend some time down there with-”

“Pray, tell me. With who.” Ishtar’s voice was a little frosty now, and it gave Seliph a slight pause before he shrugged it off. Ishtar couldn’t tell if he was being polite, or if he could understand the overprotective stance she sometimes had towards her cousin. 

“I don’t think I’ll be doing that. I think Tine would quite like them intact, or at least have a chance to tell you herself.” He said, and Ishtar’s brow furrowed for a second before she let out a brief spell of laughter, turning down to the empty courtyard again. 

“I envy her, sometimes.” She said quietly, feeling Seliph’s attention turn to her almost entirely. “It feels like she’s moving on and growing up, and I’m just…staying here. Lifeless.”

She didn’t get a reply for that. She appreciated it, truth be told, a sign that Seliph was truly listening and trying to understand than just placating her like some of the others had been. Her fingers dug into the soft granite of the balcony’s banister, knuckles turning white from the pressure before she released it with a sigh and took a step back. 

“My apologies.” She murmured, turning back to him again and giving a brief glance. “You came up here talking about how harmless this holiday was, and I fear I’ve made it a bit morbid. Forgive me for ruining it.”

“You could never ruin it.” Seliph said automatically, faster than she could have prepared for, and it made her blink. The blue-haired ruler seemed to struggle with words for a second, taking some steps towards her, and suddenly she felt his fingers on her arm.

“Try me.” She whispered quietly, and she wasn’t sure why she said it. They stood there for what couldn’t have been longer than a few seconds but felt like hours, Seliph’s hand resting on her forearm even as she fell into her normal nervous tic of grasping her elbow with her free hand and letting it hang limply. She could have sworn he was getting closer, that she could feel his breath on her skin, but suddenly the contact broke and he stepped away. 

“We should get inside.” He said with a nervous glance at the clouds gathering overhead, the two of them clearly taking a moment to collect themselves again. “Before it starts to rain. We’ll be soaked.”

“Mm.” She agreed, following him back into her room and letting him shut the glass doors behind her. The next second was full of that kind of loaded quiet, until Seliph moved to hastily excuse himself from her room, crossing to the door in a few steps and pausing to look at her before he left. 

“Will you be joining us for dinner tonight?”

“…yes.” She said, looking at him in a new light for the first time in a while. “I think I shall.”

[caraidean]

@f-ortuity || seliph wants to meet his daughter-

“Father!”

This was weird.  Swanhild had already spent the last few hours getting used to the new location, and had been grappling with the idea of a world with so many heroes from so many different places - never mind the fact that she was apparently considered worthy of being here. 

She had already heard some snippets of what some of the others here had been capable of, and it made her take a foot back for once. Swanhild just wasn’t used to feeling outclassed by anyone other than a very specific group of people, and now she was surrounded by people who may very well all be on her parent’s level. 

Thank the gods she’d finally seen a friendly face, even if it was younger. About her age, even - and no gray in his hair or lines on his face from running the continent yet, either. She had a brief moment of terror as she glanced at his hand, before letting out a sigh of relief when she saw her mother’s wedding ring was still there. If they were married, then at least she would most likely have been born by now, she knew it wasn’t long after their wedding for her to be brought into the world. 

Well, at least that was something. Hopefully her presence wouldn’t be a complete shock, then. She finally realized she’d been quiet for too long after calling out his ‘name’ in shock, and cleared her throat before giving him a weak smile - her hand tightening around Tyrfing’s hilt at her waist from reflex. 

“I’m sorry. This is probably as confusing for you as it is for me, right?” She said weakly, trying to smile through her nerves. “...I only just got here. It’s nice to see you, father. I can call you that, right?”

[caraidean]

It would take a fool to not look upon this stranger's hair, and not immediately recognise who this 'mysterious girl' happens to be-- or at least, in Seliph's eyes, that is what he believes. To keep his attendance secret, and then surprise the other on the night has been the source of quite a few sleepless nights. Regardless, as quiet footsteps bring his form over to the other, his features obscured by a mask, the young man clears his throat, and speaks. "Lady Ishtar," {you know who this is from}

This was a mistake. Ishtar could feel the edges of her asymmetrical mask starting to scratch against her skin, the cold hard steel beneath the silver leafing suddenly feeling much rougher. She cursed her initial decision to go for something so sturdy, the metal wrapping around her head and looped over her ears starting to feel heavier and heavier with each passing moment.

She needed a drink. Grabbing a glass from a passing waiter she skimmed across the side of the dance floor, downing most of it in an instant. She should never have listened to her cousin, never bothered attending this ball. Even if the mask had so far kept her from being recognised by any potential antagonistic attendees, she could feel her skin crawl and hair standing on end, something she tried to fix by messing with her shawl and sighing.

So pointless. She should just go back to her rooms and hope that nobody who had recognise her would remember she was there-

“Lady Ishtar.”

Her back stiffened on hearing herself addressed, slowly turning and letting out a relieved sigh when she caught sight of a shock of blue hair. She couldn’t even resist a laugh, reaching out and lightly running two fingers over the man’s ponytail for a brief instant.

“Lord Seliph. If you didn’t want to be recognised so easily, you may have wanted to get this removed.” She ceased the sudden, unprompted contact and crossed her arms under her chest, her empty wine glass rolling between two fingers.

“I thought…well. I thought you were not going to attend. Why did you come?” She asked after a few moments, staring into his mask and her smile growing a little more uncertain, even if her eyes grew hopeful. “Did you…come for me?”

[caraidean]

I promised to write Happy!Ishtar for @f-ortuity

"I didn't even know this place existed." Ishtar admitted to her date over her glass, gracing him with a genuine if fleeting smile. It was the truth - she had spent a little time out and around the capital in the last few weeks as her temporarily reclusive nature faded, but she hadn't really been around the streets since...well before the war had ended. Possibly even before Seliph's rebellion had broken out, really. She'd been certain that the cheerful and understatedly elegant place hadn't been here before, even if Julius had never really taken her out to a public place in this kind of context.

He'd been too sickly to really leave the castle for long before, and after...well, that was after. She forced those thoughts from her mind and sipped at her drink, shaking her head in bemusement and letting out a small, musical laugh.

She hadn't laughed in so long.

"Let me guess...Tine told you I liked doing things like this, hm?" She teased, tilting her head. She'd almost forgotten...well, that was an exaggeration. But she really hadn't had fun like this in an awfully long time. "Tell me...did you think I would be the type for all of this, Lord Seliph? All fancy dresses and a public outing somewhere nice? It was the public part that I think catches people off guard..."

She shrugged a little, lighting up as her appetizer arrived and carefully dipping a spoon into the soup, still glancing at him with now-nervous eyes, hoping she hadn't offended him. "Thank you for doing this. Truly. I...needed to get out."

[caraidean]

Dream: My character will have a dream about your character. {from seliph for ishtar of course}

@f-ortuity (and guest starring @sireneia‘s tine)

"Have you ever done anything like this, my lord?"

"No...I haven't. The towns that I grew up in - and the lessons that Oifey gave me, they were all...well, I don't suppose they prepared me for high society."

"Don't worry. I'll show you."

So she stepped out onto the empty ballroom floor with him, hands together as she tried to teach the young Emperor how to dance. She could remember every step, week after week of Hilda forcing her to learn from a young age making it second nature to her, and she managed to correct the small mistakes she saw Seliph make - not with scolding and a smack around the head like her mother had used on Ishtar, but just with words. She'd been afraid that the act would bring back bad memories for her like so many other things she did in the capital, but to her surprise...none of them were there. It was like being around Seliph helped keep them at bay, as if she had something she could concentrate on - someone she cared about with no links to her past, no real baggage between them. 

"Are you enjoying yourself?" She asked him eventually when they moved onto a different dance, their footsteps echoing through the empty hall. He nodded after a moment, and Ishtar couldn't help but laugh a little. "So am I."

"Truly?" Seliph asked, seeming confused. "I thought you would find this a chore. I didn't want to bother you."

"At this point, Seliph, I don't think you could ever bother me." Ishtar was surprising herself with how candid her words were, not even feeling a blush rising to her cheeks at her bluntness. "Truly, I'm enjoying myself. In fact..."

Deciding that clearly, common sense had abandoned her, Ishtar shifted his hands to her waist instead of along her arms like they had been. He seemed confused, about to ask if this was the start of a new dance, only to be silenced when she took his face in both hands and stared up at him.

"If I'm honest, I never want this night to end." Ishtar said quietly, leaning up just a little and pressing her lips against his. He seemed to freeze in hesitation, just for a moment, but then-

"Cousin! Wake up!"

Ishtar's hand shot out, managing to barely stop herself falling from the bed as she was roused from her slumber. She glared at the offending voice, her cousin actually taking a step back from the intensity of it as Ishtar growled through her teeth.

"Tine, I swear, you better have a good reason for this."

"You said you'd help Seliph practice for the ball next month, remember?" Tine insisted, and Ishtar blinked in surprise as the memories that must have brought on her dream flooded forth. "Come on, you're going to be late! He's waiting for you!"