Hadianna had not been trying to start drama today. Today of all days, she knew better than to start shit. All she wanted to do was pay respects to the brother she had never gotten the chance to know. It was the anniversary of said brother's death, after all. She had decided to clean off the grave and leave some flowers. Mama had even said it would be a good idea. Unfortunately, Varis had not thought so and took the flowers before stomping on them.
Now the seven-year-old was left to race through the halls looking for someone or something to hide behind. Hadianna turned a corner, breath coming out in gasps. She couldn't keep this up for long, and Varis had longer legs. A whine left her before she saw someone turn the corner. The Legatus! She could hide behind him!
With a final burst of speed, he reached Quintus and got behind him. She did not miss the growl that came out. The fifteen-year-old was unhappy. Even so, he seemed to just walk past and glare at her. She was safe for now, but he would likely come after her again if she wasn't careful.
Nights in Garlemald were bitingly miserable, each snowflake and minute breeze stealing what little warmth there was. Arismont, for all his effort, could barely stave off the cold by himself. He was used to the humid caves of Ala Mhigo - not this.
He turned to his companion with a quirked eyebrow. Quintus appeared nonplussed by the wind invading their jackets. Even huddled around fire, hands warmed by soup, Arismont was still miserable.
"I have some spices in my pocket if it's too bland for you." To accentuate his statement, Arismont sprinkled a blend of rock salt, dried peppers, and mustard seed. "Can always use a kick."
Zenos pressed his hand to his aching side, ignoring the gazes of everyone passing him as he walks down the steps to the soldiers’ barracks. He had just finished todays lesson with his latest tutor, and it went as well as every single lesson before that, with the Crown Prince getting beaten until he could barely stand anymore. Sure, it was a challenge and Zenos was eager to learn and finally find a way to fight back against that arrogant man from a foreign land, but that didn’t mean that the beatings didn’t hurt. They very much did. But his father didn’t care, he let it happen, thinking it would be good to have his son be shaped by pain and humiliation, turning him into the perfect weapon. Zenos couldn’t quite understand it. From what he had thought and read, parents were supposed to protect their child, but Zenos could not turn to his father for protection, so he turned to the one man that would listen: Quintus van Cinna.
The Ist Legion’s Legatus was an honorable man, as much as Zenos could say, and more often than not he had been the one to offer Zenos advice whenever the Emperor was too busy to even spare his son a single glance. The concept of trust was more or less foreign to Zenos, but he knew if there was anyone that was close to qualify as a trusted companion it was the Legatus. The Prince was unaware of the dark bruise under his eye, but other than that he was mostly presentable as he knocked on Quintus’ door.
“Lord Quintus”, he greets the man that opens the door and he does not miss the concerned expression on the Legatus’ face as he eventually steps to the side to allow Zenos into the room. The youth was curious as he looked around, taking in the small but organized room, of course he was interested in the weapons; he never handled guns before but a single glance was enough to determine that they were fine weapons, the Legatus’ greatsword was even of bigger interest to him, but it was the picture of Quintus and what he assumed where his two children that caught his interest for a longer moment. Zenos knew there didn’t exist any pictures of him and his father, and he doubted that even if there were any that the Emperor would put them on display anywhere.
Zenos hears the Legatus’ question, but he does not reply, not yet, and eventually the Prince decides to sit, but not at the desk and not on the bed, instead he sits down next to the pile of books, taking one of them into his hands to look through it. Books used to bring him comfort when he was younger, but they have long been replaced by weapons and now the magic of written words could barely reach him anymore. The Prince contemplated what he wanted to say, how he should say it and finally he looks at Quintus, the gaze of his blue eyes as empty as he felt inside:
“How does one deal with a foe that seems impossible to overcome?”
The room was dark. Pitch black. It was a small and cramped space and Zenos, young crown prince of Garlemald, could not escape it. He had not seen his father for at least three moons, his days were filled with children that were supposed to become his companions, but he found them so incredibly dull. And on top of that were tutors. Men and women teaching him about Garlemald and the world he was supposed to conquer one day and while a part of him knew he should be in awe of it, nothing they taught and showed him made him feel anything. He felt empty. Too smart for his own good, too high his expectations of everyone else, just as his father had too high expectations of a boy that young.
His father expected him to grow into a strong man and he did not see it necessary to protect his son, so when Zenos started to clash with a rather impatient tutor, there was no one to protect him from punishment.
“If you don’t care about the beauty of your homeland, you don’t deserve to see it.”
That was what he said when he dragged the young prince along, tossing him into the dark chamber and locking the door behind him, leaving Zenos in there for hours to overthink his manners and his view of the world. But it didn’t change anything for him.
The prince clutched the book he had been reading under the table during his lesson before being caught to his chest. Being locked in here would not be that bad, if only he had light to keep reading. There were only few things that he currently deemed worthy of his attention, but books being the most prominent thing among them. It was knowledge he gathered all by himself, he did not need anyone to tell him about the world, he wanted to experience it for himself.
“If only I was capable of using magic..”, Zenos sighed, snapping his fingers as if to summon a flame like he had read in the books, but obviously nothing happened. Damn those Eorzeans. He wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his chin on his knees, there was nothing else he could do but wait, but when the door was suddenly opened, he was blinded by the light and it took him a moment to realise it was not his tutor standing before him.
It was the legatus of the 1st Imperial Legion, Quintus Cinna, the royal shield and bodyguard. They had not been formally introduced to one another, but Zenos had seen the man at his father’s side before, so the surprise to see him here was an even bigger one. But the boy knew better than to ask stupid questions, so he just looked up at the man before him with empty blue eyes, awaiting either freedom or further punishment.
Rumbling as he could barely keep his eyes open, though hearing the Legatus' words, the dragon nodded a bit since yeah.....yeah that might be for the best since he already used up so much energy after merging with his voidsent more than needed. "Sorry bout the mess...." With that, the au ra found an empty seat as he sat down and leaned his head back as he did his best to catch his breath.
Send me ‘ 😟 ’ for my muse to admit what’s stressing them out the most atm. If symbol doesn’t appear, send ‘ stressed ‘, instead.
"Wisteria and her wolves have thankfully replenished our stores of meat… and it looks as if they were able to find some ceruleum deeper in the ruins. But…. I fear we're running dangerously low on medicinal supplies. Medicine more importantly."
Perhaps it merely came with the territory of being a medical professional, or at least something close to it, but Cornell never liked being the one to deliver news where the bad outweighed the good. Experience dictated that Quintus wouldn't physically last out at him or even raise his voice for that matter, but even with that reassurance in the back of his mind, Cornell couldn't help but tense up in fear as he handed over the hastily scribbled report.
"I truly wish I could do more, but many of those injured refuse to accept anything but traditional medicine for their treatment."
Cornell had walked on the most fragile of eggshells to get to the position he was at, yet even then, those who were in desperate need of medical attention vehemently refused his help if magic was involved. Even if it would alleviate the pain; even if it would heal them right then and there. To know that even magic meant to protect and aid was not trusted…. Well, it stung, but he couldn't blame any of them for being so hesitant. Most, if not all experiences involving magic were directly connected with fighting and destruction; it only made sense for them to be worried.
A completely understandable situation, yet one that was so incredibly stressful when you were one of the only ones around who could truly help.
"By your leave, I would like to scour the outer perimeter of the capital in search of herbs to remedy this situation. And if you could inform Wisteria that if she finds..." Cornell paused momentarily, looking far paler than usual as a morbid thought came to mind.
"If she finds any cloth during her patrol, it needs to be brought back so we can have an ample supply of bandages.."
hello, i am gathering Nice Things (tm) for nossumusmanus since they're having a rainy sort of day. if you have anything positive to share about our mutual friend, please say so! thank you!
That's so sweet of you omg??? I unfortunately don't have much to say because we haven't really chatted outside the occasional ooc post or via tags, but the small interactions we have had were nothing short of delightful! They're a wonderful presence on the dashboard and I can't get enough of the content they put out there, from headcanons to gposes. Especially the gposes like hot damn I wish I could compose stuff like that.
If anyone isn't following @nossumusmanus I highly suggest it! Add another old man into your collections today!
