[[ rp, ask, and drabble sideblog dedicated to my guilds from etrian odyssey 3 and 4, though mostly focused on the latter. welcome to any universe, verse, rp script, etc.--check rules for more info. thank you!!]]
↕ - a memory that may or may not have happened, Maglynn
Darkness. Words. She saw darkness, she heard words. Talking? That’s it, yes, talking. Heard talking. …Why?
“…love you very much. Oh, I love you so much, dear, do remember that.”
Yes, yes, I know. ..I do? I do, I know. Don’t stop now. Don’t stop talking.
“I’m sorry. Love, I am so sorry. I never wanted to…”
Wanted to what? Can’t hear her. ‘Her’, oh, yes… It’s a woman’s voice. Who are you? Keep talking.
“…can take care of you. Right capable, he is, and it breaks my heart fierce to think about my own on the street, here, this rotten place, but…”
I don’t know. I’m so confused. Am I asleep? Am I dead? No, I’m too young right now to be dead. …What? Keep talking!
“We can’t afford to let our beloved ones, our only two, you two… Oh, I-I just can’t let this happen to you. A plague, my love, and you’re too young to know about it now, but…”
‘Too young’. I thought so, but in reality... I already know, ma, I’m living through it now—
It couldn’t be.
“Maybe, hopefully, I can see you again some day, my darling baby girl. Maybe you can hear me right now, so I’ll say it. Goodbye, M—”
The pitch darkness was broken by a lighter one, the dark of night, that filled the inn’s room from the windows. Her eyes adjusted, and she yawned, as she always did after waking up, even this early in the morning. Chills raced through her limbs, despite the layers of warm blankets and pillows she kept on her and her bed.
Just a dream, she thought in defeat, Just a dream. I never knew her.
…I never knew her, but she knew me. Yes, just a dream…
(Any muse(s)) What memory stands out the most from your childhood - what experience has most impacted who you are today? And if you could, would you change anything about what happened?
Ametrine paused a moment, eyes closed, lips pursed as she dug through faded galleries in her mind.
“I was no older than eight years,” said she, “and I lived in the village church. Mind you, not only a church; it was also our library, our gathering hall, our… orphanage.” The last word came out heavier than the rest, and she paused.
“I lived there, yes, and I kept myself occupied with books for many a day. But there were some books—ancient ones, beautiful ones—locked away in dusty rooms only the priest knew of.” The runemaster halted again, but smiled this time, her expression lined with melancholy.
“Ah, or that’s what they all figured, anyways. I knew how to get in. And I knew what they were hiding; spellbooks, plenty of them, full of the greatest thing they wanted to hide from curious youngsters. Certainly not tomes written in that ratty village…
“I took one. The biggest one I could carry, being the bony thing I was back then. And then I ran away for a long, long time.”
Ametrine sighed. “It was a terrible decision, up and leaving like that and trying to teach myself runes off in the woods, and then trying to find a family in a town farther up the river... What I stole from myself was invaluable; a proper upbringing.”
You wouldn’t have had one even if you had stayed there, and you know it’s true.
Blood tastes horrible, as always, and a few droplets of it escape your mouth and stain the tiles below. You’re wheezing and gagging, but not crying, no, you won’t let yourself stoop that low, and your knees and elbows are your only support right now.
"Get up."
You can hear him sling his drive blade across his back, hear him put his weapon away, thank heaven, but he still has limbs and he kicks you hard enough that it feels like a sword’s wound. Your armor was strong—Imperial steel, of course it was sturdy—but it still wasn’t as strong as his, wasn’t anything compared to the armor of your commander. The sabatons struck you like fangs would bite into a carcass and it made you sick to your stomach.
"I said, 'get up'. Ha, can you not stand? Would you so easily fall in battle? Truly, a worthy knight to serve these lands someday.”
He’s so arrogant, it shows in his voice, and his laugh is as grating and it was humiliating. No, not 'was', could be. Oh, there are people watching, of course, but you don’t care anymore. Eyes were made to observe, so let them watch the outcome of your duel. Let them watch you as you coughed and let more blood flow to the sparring hall’s floor. You thought you heard him move to strike you again, and you bit down on your sore lips, closed your eyes tighter than before to ready yourself, but it never came.
"H-Hold, Sir, please." It’s a girl’s voice, and it’s quivering beneath the stony facade. "Maglynn… equally matched you in battle for a long time, Sir, she’s performed well, I-I don’t think you should… be treating her this way, Sir."
Asami. Oh, sweet girl, thank you, but you and I both know you don’t have the confidence to speak up to him, you don’t have to try and—
Your haughty mentor scoffs and turns away from you and instead towards your younger friend; the sound of each footstep makes you flinch a bit, just the slightest. “And you, girl,” he sneers, certainly addressing Asami now, “you think you’ve the right to question a superior? Me, of all people? And a weakling thing like you?”
She says something, something bold instead of her usual submissiveness, you could hardly tell what it was as you faded, and if only! If only you had stood up, woken up, limped over and joined in the fray of words. Aided your closest companion and finally spoken up to that disgusting knight—satisfying, so satisfying.
Instead, those were the clearest moments, the final moments, before you blacked out, and it pained you so to think of what could’ve happened then, all of the horrible possibilities; to this date, they’ve refused to tell you the full truth, and the last memories of that day will always haunt you.
"No. No, love, no, don’t be saying such things. Your eyes be right lovely, see. Golden just like our mum’s."
Don’t tell me that. I don’t know who she is. I want pretty brown eyes like yours.
"When looking at you, I don’t only see you. She has always been a part of you. Your heart has always been as bright and beautiful as hers…"
You tell me all the time. But I don’t know that person.
"Oh, she and you, you would be the best of friends if she were here with us now. Inseparable, love, I just know it!"
His laughter is fractured by a painful cough and he shoos your small hands away when you reach out to comfort him, just like every other time. Instead he leans back against the mossy wall in that filthy alleyway you call home, and goes back to storytelling with his cheerful, raspy voice.
It’s awkward and off-putting when he talks about the woman who gave life to you both. He speaks so often of the memories she left behind, yet you yourself have none. You know he cares, you know your brother loves you, but you can’t find it in your heart to love a lady you’ve never met.
And you refuse to accept the fact that you’re supposedly so alike.
"Hey! I'll get it eventually! Just maybe not today!" Hayley cut off Ametrine's string of speculations with a small chirp of optimism. "Whatcha wanna do now?" she then asked.
The smaller runemaster thankfully halted her streaming thoughts, and Ametrine was about to offer an apology, until Hayley spoke up again.
" 'Not today?' " The tone was surprised and laced slightly with disappointment. "You had insisted on training earlier, I assumed you would've--" She caught herself and sighed, crossing her arms in defeat. Yes, she was in charge at the moment; yes, Hayley was her responsibility... but still, I don't want to restrict her from enjoying my company.
"Well... I see we're not going to progress any further in training today. I've shared knowledge enough, at the least... Hmm." Come on, you, just offer her something. "Would you mind terribly if we were to spend the rest of the afternoon in town?"
There are now two kiddos (one a monk one a zodiac) admiring Maglynn. Both her and the sword she carries because they have not seen stuff like that before and they are amazed. ((ooc: here have some babs owo))
She noticed the youngsters a while ago, of course she did, and she didn’t speak up. No, instead Maglynn smiled to herself and said nothing, continuing to hum cheerfully and carefully wipe her blade clean with an old cloth. She was almost done, and then she'd introduce herself, yes indeed. And in no later than a minute, her mechanical sword was gleaming again, just as it always should.
The lady knight turned to face her young admirers with a warm grin that reached her golden eyes. The pair seemed quite unlike the usual explorers around Tharsis; more and more foreign explorers had been into town for one reason or another, and no doubt the apparent mage and fist-fighter eyeing her from the street corner were among them.
"I am not being one to bites, you know," she laughed, beckoning them over. "Come on closerings, if something yous are needing."
"Alright! No runes- just movement! " Hayley summarized what Ametrine had said out loud, before following suit. Her hand danced in the air as if she were casting a spell, and with the result of. ...nothing. Attempting again and again, she just couldn't make anything happen. The young girl pouted before looking back at her new mentor, hoping for some guidance.
Disappointed, the runemaster's face fell into a worried frown. "Oh... hmm."
Hayley had followed through the motions nigh perfectly--impressive, for a handful of first attempts--and yet there was no visible reaction. Judging by the young girl's downhearted gaze, there wasn't any power harnessed, either. It'd be a waste to make her to try again, ugh.
"Perhaps..." murmured Ametrine, browsing her knowledge for an explanation to relay, "Ah, my apologies, perhaps it is a rarer skill than I previously thought. Or more innate? No, that wouldn't explain why it..."
She trailed off, distracted by thoughts, muttering 'maybes' and 'what ifs' to no one in particular.
((going along with her hero complex, katlene makes it a point to never break promises… or she tries, at least. the promises that she tends to break are ones that have to do with not doing something. ‘promise me you won’t spend the last of our money on a new sword’?? well, guess who’s coming home with a shiny new sword that evening
she can tell when a promise is truly important, though, in which case you can be sure it’ll never be broken.))
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