The weather in Coerthas was never kind. Wind ripped off hats and snatched shawls. Snow clung to hair and cold noses. Ice formed on eye lashes.
And yet they still prayed.
I paused in my walk to the Jeweled Crozier, watching from a distance as they waited for the doors of Saint Reymanaud Cathedral to open for service.
The doors were opened and they began to bow as they were let inside. I couldn’t stop my face from twisting. Inside they would pray together to Halone, the Fury. After everything, I was losing my patience for the Twelve. How could they allow everything that had happened to us over the years? It left me with a hollow, bitter, angry feeling. Maybe that’s why I’m so lonely.
With a shake of my head, brushing snow out of my face, I turned my back to the church and continued with my errands.
The old Elezen looked up from his tea, bewildered, at the other Elezen that sat across from him. “Say what now?”
“What if Colette says no?” Lionnellais anxiously shifted in his seat, shoulders hunched as he clutched onto his tea cup.
Sylvie barked out a laugh, “What ever would make you think she would say no?”
“She said no when I first tried to give her chocolate,” Lionnellais reasoned, looking aside with a worried sigh.
“That was literal cycles ago though. How long have you been courting her now?” Sylviel leaned back in his chair, legs crossing as he sipped his tea.
“Ah...six summers? Perhaps seven...” The younger of the two sighed.
“If she hasn’t tired of your company by now, I don’t think she’ll say no,” Sylviel smiled, leaning forward to pat Lionnellais’ arm. “Just ask her. It’s the only way you’ll know.”
“Uuuggghhhh...” Lionnellais groaned as his head slowly sank down to rest on the table. Sylviel chuckled and poured him more tea.
I’ve heard that if you rub away at the bad layers of something, the good inner layers will be exposed. It sounds pretty easy, in theory. It has a lot of practical uses, such as cleaning, woodworking, cooking, polishing.
…it’s not so easy with people, though.
Maybe just a few more cycles of scouring will reveal the good parts of me…
@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast
She waited for her contact in the Forgotten Knight, her pint of warm ale long finished. She leaned back in her chair in her armor, arms crossed while she waited.
Other patrons were giving her looks of worry and concern. She had been there for a long time and hard hardly moved after finishing her ale. The waitress kept asking her if she wanted something else to drink, but there was the barest shake of her head. One of the staff mentioned that if they hadn’t watched her walk in earlier that they might think she was made out of wax.
Just as the waitress was about to approach the table again, another armored figure approached. Lily’s chin lifted to look up at him. “I thought you were never going to show up, she quipped.
He shrugged as he took off his helmet, “I got held up. But I think you’ll like what it was.”
Her brow ticked up, “Well?” She looked to the empty chair at her table and he sat. She leaned forward in her chair, “Surprise me.”
They both sat staring at their cards. Occasionally one would glance up at the other, then back down. The Triple Triad game has gotten intense. The ‘winning spoils’ included a bottle of red wine, cookies and chocolate. Both were eager to take the prize home with them.
“So, plus and chaos, right?” Lily asked, glancing up at Lionnellais as they prepared their hands for the final match.
“Mm, that was the agreement,” Lionnellais nodded.
“Great...” Lily frowned, grumbling, “I hate plus...”
“You could always withdraw,” the Elezen glanced up at her.
Lily barked out a laugh, “No chance. Alright I’ve got my cards. Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” Lionnellais said. They exchanged hands briefly to shuffle without looking, then returned the cards to their original owner face down. Lionnellais took a coin. “Heads or tails?”
“Tails,” Lily smiled at him.
Lionnellais flipped the coin up, commenting, “Keep your fingers crossed then.” He caught it in his palm and showed it to her. Tails.
“Hah! My turn first,” Lily grinned, drawing her first card.
The match grew incredibly quiet as each thought. Lily took every tick of the clock she could for her turn before she was forced to play her card. Lionnellais in turn took one glance at his card, playing it after doing some quick math in his head.
Lily captured some of his cards with the plus rule, and he would capture them back. On the last card...the game resulted in a draw. Both of them looked at each other, then at the winning spoils. They shared another look.
“I’ll open the cookies,” Lily said.
Lionnellais started to get up, “I’ll get the wine glasses, then.”
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her. She’s been working in Ul’dah lately, but my own work hasn’t taken me that way. I long to see her again, to watch the breeze blow the edge of her cowl just enough to show me her sweet face.
A sigh escapes my lips as I daydream of her pale skin, the way she smiles when I see her, the way she blushes and looks away when she catches sight of my letters. I know it’s been moons, but I can’t wait to see her. No matter how long it is, I continue to write her. Nothing can stop the gentle flame in my heart.
I have a few suns off after we wrap up this past relic hunt. It won’t take long to make it to Ul’dah. I can’t wait to see her...
It wasn’t really adoption. Couldn’t even be called fostering, either. After his mother had died, Lionnellais insisted on trying to keep to himself and stand on his own two feet. ...his thirteen summer old feet.
Sylvia was nearby from where he was setting up a laundry line. He was fulms taller than Lionnellais, and, while the young Elezen was too proud to ask for help, Sylviel knew he needed it.
“I’ll hang the lines further down so you’re able to hang them yourself,” he explained to the boy, who was currently by a basin of water running his clothes along a scrub board.
Lionnellais never denied the help, but he wouldn’t ask for it either. Under the surface he was grateful for the help. He nodded, “Thank you, Sylviel.”
“Clarisse taught you how to wash them once you get the soap into them?” Sylviel questioned
There was silence as the splashing of the water paused for a moment. Sniff. “Yeah. Use another basket to wring it.” His sentences were short and Sylviel could tell from the way he hid his face that he was crying again.
“Alright. Let me know if you want any help.”
“Okay.”
Sylviel knew he wouldn’t, though. He finished with the line and helped Lionnellais get the clothes, towels and bedsheets pinned up. “Alright. Pull them down in a few bells. I’ve left some dinner on the counter in the kitchen for you. You have my pearl if you need help with anything.”
“...yeah, I’ve got it.” Sylviel looked down at the boy, whose head was lowered again to try to hide his face. “Thank you.”
“Of course. Us conjurers have to stick together, righ—oof,” Sylviel cut off as Lionnellais launched at him, grabbing his middle in a hug so tight he could hardly breathe. He wouldn’t dare tell the teenager that, though. All he could do was return the hug.
@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast
It had been a long time since he’d been on the water again. How long ago had it been? Was it four moons ago or five when he had gone with his brother to Eureka? He always got anxious when getting ready to go out on the water though, regardless of how long it had been or where he was going. He always had to think twice about the first step onto the dock. At least he was a lot better now than he had been in the past.
Lionnellais blinked slightly when he get a tug on his hair. “Cookie!” the child in his arms demanded.
“Thomas, you already had one. If I give you another your father will fuss at me.” The little boy’s lip jutted out and his blue eyes shimmered with tears. “We don’t want Daddy to get fussy, right? We can play catch on the boat, how about that?”
The little boy hiccuped and sniffed mightily while he made grabby hands at Lionnellais’ robes. He eventually nodded. The Elezen chuckled as he carried the boy with him down the dock, fighting the anxious knot in his stomach.
“Unca Leo!!” a girl’s voice cheered. Thomas’ twin sister, Elenora, ran for him after wiggling her way out of her father’s arms. He bent down to catch her with his free arm, bag falling beside him on the dock.
He laughed and stood, holding the twins up. “Gods, you’re both getting so big! How old are you?”
“Four,” both of them said at the same time.
“Already four summers! Can you show me four?”
Both of the children fumbled with their fingers. Elenora showed him four fingers on one hand, and Thomas showed him three fingers on one hand and one on the other. He chuckled, “Very good! You’re both so smart.”
“Leo.”
Lionnellais looked up when he heard the voice to see a tall, bald Highlander hopping off the side of his ship. He crossed his arms over his chest and shifted his mustache. He looked expectant. “Ah, Essy! I would hug you, but...arms are somewhat full. Precious cargo for the ship.”
Esmond’s mustache shifted again and he stepped over to give Lionnellais and the children a big bear hug. The twins giggled and squirmed until their father let them go.
“Permission to carry the precious cargo on board?” Lionnellais asked with a grin.
Esmond nabbed the red tinted goggles from around Lionnellais’ neck to put them over his eyes. Only then did he jut his thumb over his shoulder toward the ship behind him and pass to pick up Lionnellais’ dropped bag.
“How long until we leave?” Lionnellais asked as he carefully climbed onto the ship, carrying the twins with him.
“Raph,” Esmond responded as he put Lionnellais’ bag on the deck.
“Alright. I’ll keep the little ones occupied until he gets here then. Who wants to play a game?” Children’s cheers went out over the water in response. He was more than happy to play with his godchildren while they waited.
My dearest flower,
I know it’s been a long time since I’ve written you a letter, much less even a note. I know we used to do it all the time when I would be teaching and you would be working in the weaver’s stall...but I felt it appropriate now to write for you.
It’s taken a long time to make it here...to this point I’m at where I have a family again, where I’m happy to wake up and do something. Of course, the happiness isn’t always there. There are the occasional moments of dread and sadness, but I’m accepting that that’s the balance. I’m no longer wallowing in self pity and grief, but almost overwhelmed with love and care.
Along with everything else, I wanted to let you know that I believe I’ve finally forgiven myself. I know there’s nothing I could have done to make things end differently...but I’ve forgiven myself for living when you didn’t. I know you would rather want me to continue on to share your memory in good company than wither away in loneliness.
I just wanted you to know.
Thinking of you,
Your star
@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast
“Okay, so in order to make the cookies, you have to…” He looked up from the recipe, blinking, as a powder of white went up into the air. “...Lily, that is not what you have to do to make the cookies.”
The Hyur coughed and waved her hand back and forth in the air in front of her, trying to get flour out of her face, “I’m sorry! I dropped the bag!”
“Well, yes. But as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” the Elezen’s arm was smacked, “the first thing you have to do for the cookies is mix all the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Not throw them on the floor.”
Lily barked out a laugh, then coughed again after more flour went flying at the motion.
“...and don’t inhale them.”
“NOT. HELPING.”
Lionnellais snickered as he worked on helping her clean up the flour so they could begin.
@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast
Someday, I would have to give it to her.
I knew I would. It was one of the last things I had from our family, one of the few heirlooms I managed to keep hold of after the fire. The ring glistened and gleamed when I looked at it on its chain, the green gem shimmering like a wind sprite when held up to the light.
It was passed on to me from my mother when I was sixteen. I should have given it to Tyra, but I felt like I wanted to hold onto it just a little bit longer. I knew it was selfish...but it was safe...one of the last things I had from my time back home.
The little jewelry box I kept on my nightstand would keep it safe until the time came. My heart wasn’t ready to part with it yet. Soon, maybe...but not yet. I just had to wait for the right moment. Maybe when she finally got engaged to that girlfriend of hers…
@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast
It was easy to say that it was the fight’s fault. To say that they shouldn’t have gotten involved in a fight in the first place. To say that if they hadn’t been fighting, he wouldn’t have died.
It would also be easy to say that it was the observer’s fault...for not saying something sooner. To say that they should have broken it up. To say that they should have done something more than they did.
By that same token, it would also have been fair to say that it was the fault of the transporters. To say that they were the ones who jostled them around too much. To say that they shouldn’t have removed the blade when they did without a healer present.
But while it would be easier to say that all the other parties involved were at fault...I felt that I was to blame for his death. That were was something more that I could have done. That if I had only been a little faster...if I had only used my spell just a tick sooner...I could have saved them.
It would be easy to blame someone else.
But I feel like I can only blame myself.
@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast
Knocking...knocking..knocking...He awoke with a start, grunting and groaning as he turned over in bed to bury his face in his pillow. Maybe if he ignored them…Knocking...knocking…He rolled over to squint an eye at his clock beside his carbuncle lamp. Just past three in the afternoon, based on the strip of light he could see at the edge of his window curtains. Only a couple bells of sleep then...ugh.Running his fingers through his bed-mussed hair, the Elezen ascended the stairs, putting the kettle on along the way. More knocking…
“I’m coming,” he called groggily, turning on the light and heading for the door. He opened it, wincing slightly at the much brighter light outside.
Lily’s hand was lifted up to knock again, but the door moved and she smiled sheepishly up at the Elezen. “Sorry Lion...did I wake you?”
Lionnellais squinted at the light outside, stepping back to allow her inside, “Well yes…”
“Sorry, I just thought you were downstairs and couldn’t hear me…” Lily laughed a bit nervously and bent down to pick up a box of tea, carrying it inside. Lionnellais closed the door behind her and closed the curtains to stop more of the sunlight from coming in.
“You know I go to bed around one. I assumed you got lost on your way here and weren’t coming so I went to bed,” he sounded amused as he made a space for her box on the table, stifling a yawn.
“I lost track of time,” Lily toed the ground for a moment, “I was weeding the garden and the next thing I knew it was two thirty and…” she cut off at the hand atop her head and looked up at the sleepy Elezen.
“It’s alright, we can still have tea.” She beamed up at him. “...and then I’m going back to bed.”
They both laughed as the kettle started to whistle.
Firelight twinkled orange in her glass of red wine, creating an array that occasionally crackled enough to catch her face. Her hands were folded on the desk in front of her, expression a mask of calm hiding the disappointment and anger writhing beneath. Over the cycles she had developed her mother’s piercing stare that could speak a thousand words without breathing a single one of them.
Their client stared at her, his arms crossed over his chest. “Unfortunately, my endeavor did not go as well as we had planned, Miss Tyra.”
Her pointer finger lightly tapped on the knuckles of her other hand and she made a ‘tsk’ clicking sound with her tongue against her teeth. Her green eyes watched him visibly flinch at the sound. “I understand that you’re disappointed at hearing the news, but as you can see, I don’t necessarily have my, ah, dodos in a row, as you will.”
Eyes narrowed and her hands separated, one making a fist. A hand was laid on her shoulder.
“Sooo...what you’re saying is that we’re not gonna be getting paid.” Maxwell had a brow raised.
The Midlander was beginning to sweat. “Um...well, something like that--”
“We had a deal, Damien.”
Tyra sat back, fists still clenched in her lap now as she watched him shift nervously in his seat while reaching for his tea. “I know we did, but this isn’t--”
His voice was cut off as Maxwell pulled his gun from his holster, pointing it at the Hyur, “Tea time’s over. Pay us or we walk.”
Tyra slowly reached forward then for her wine glass, taking a sip as Damien’s gaze focused on the barrel of the gun.
“I don’t have the funds, I’m sorry.”
Tyra put her glass back down and pulled a green orb out of her pocket, watching it glow a faint teal color. She tossed it up and down a couple times and then looked to him, shrugging, and smugly put it back into her pocket. She stood from her chair and waved over her shoulder while turning for the door.
“We can find another buyer,” Maxwell shrugged, “Come on, let’s go.”
“Wait, I’ll--I’ll think of something!”
She glanced over her shoulder at him, a dangerous glare from the mute that caused a chill to ride down Damien’s spine. She turned back for the door as she lifted up her hand with only her middle finger raised to head for the door.
The relic hunters left with their prize without another word.
@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast
The box had been left untouched for so long, even brushing dust off the label caused particles to go flying into the air around her. She waited as they settled, staring at the edges of the crate where it had been moved, gaze following the edges of the fingerprints left in the thick layers of time. It made plain just how many cycles had passed since she had spoken gone looking for anything about him.
She stared at the name on the now-clean label. Well, mostly clean. His name stared back...a name she hadn’t dared to breathe in a long time.
Selas Aier
Her breath caught with a hitch as memories came swirling back. The bond she had with him was unmistakable. Inseparable for years, growing up alongside one another even as their father insisted he learn a different path than she. They would share their lessons with one another so they could share everything. Be the same…
...until they weren’t.
She had let herself forget for the last decade how much she wanted to know what had happened, what had changed in him...why he drifted away from her...and then burned everything alive that they had once shared. This was likely the last things of his that still existed; the rest of it was long gone with the ashes of their family home. Even thinking about it now brought a pain to her heart like no other, the twisted knife of betrayal causing her chest to clench. It was always hard to breathe when the smell of smoke and the sounds of screaming returned to her...returning to her with the searing question of WHY.
She didn’t realize that she was shaking until she had to steady her hands on the lid of the dusty crate. She had come to get it by chance...boxes that her grandparents had kept in their attic from when they were children. He had recently found them and returned them to her. She didn’t even know what was inside. Slowly, she lifted up the lid.
Her eyes welled with tears as she saw the little toy swords they had played with when they were children, given to them by their grandfather who insisted the blood of the Aier family live on in glory, while their father was vehement on them being casters for good. Their grandfather would always let them play with swords when they visited. There was even makeshift play armor he had helped them make. She pushed aside a few wooden building blocks, toys, a couple children’s books...to find, buried down at the bottom, a shirt.
With trembling hands, she lifted it up, the tears spilling from her cheeks. She remembered him wearing this shirt...she had had one that matched. A flowing green one that matched their eyes, with the family crest on the shoulder. There was a stain on the front, from rolanberry jelly. She sniffed and cried as she ran her fingers over it, remembering how she had ‘accidentally’ dropped jelly on her own shirt immediately after so they would match.
She slowly sank down into the chair beside her, the pads of her fingers tracing along the edges of the jelly. She would never know why her twin had done what she did, she supposed...not now. But she did have their childhood memories. That would have to be enough to sate the burning question of WHY. It was all she really had.
Lily lifted the shirt up to bury her face into her twin’s old shirt with a watery smile. This would have to do.
@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast
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