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 Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:33 pm
 It had been much too long.
She had worried, certainly, but at first she had figured that Light had needed time. Distance. Some wounds could only be solved by time.
Then, she'd figured that it was not her matters to handle, that if Illumin had wished for her presence, he would have made himself known. He knew exactly how to find her, after all.
She had last seen him at the remaking of the sky, and yet... Yet Light hadn't seemed there, at all, in some way. He had seemed so... so... wounded, in his own way.
And yet, the true trigger to her actions was when the first of her children grew into his own. When Music had realized the last time she had talked to Light at any length, none of her children were even truly in existence.
And so, that was enough. Still, it had taken her some time to finally settle into action, as it often did - but now, today, she had finally gathered herself and made the travel to the only place she knew Light might be.
If Illumin was not at the Pharos Beacon, then... Well, this would be a great deal more complicated than she thought.
The trip there had been pleasant, if a bit awkward. Music was not yet truly used to fly on her own device, still. It was only with the return of her full glory that flight had returned to her, and she had little opportunity to practice the skill.
Still, the town was beautiful from above - clearly much better off that it once had been. And there was the lighthouse... And she angled her flight to begin her descent. She saw no need to change her shape, to hide herself when those who lived in this place were well aware of the existance of gods.
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:42 pm
The news of an approaching goddess had moved through the town swiftly; there were always some people on watch. Though the world had improved vastly in recent months, there was always the possibility of danger, and the little community of Solde-on-Palecliff was determined to protect their own. The coming of one of the divine, however, was no threat. Indeed, it was a blessing...
Many mortal eyes watched Music soar towards the lighthouse - and when the news reached Eibhilin's ears, the Aoide headed out to the balcony that surrounded the lantern room. There were no lenses or even glass remaining, only a delicate grid of metal that held up the roof. Within the space that had once held a lamp, a ball of pure light held sway, indicating the nature of the god within.
"My Lady Music," the banshee Aoide called out, rising into the air to meet their guest. "A fair sun sees you to us today. To what do we owe the pleasure?" Eibhilin was smiling with relief; it was rare these days for any gods to seek out Light, and that worried her.
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:05 pm
"Indeed. It had been a while, Eibhilin." She said with a nod, after landing - perhaps a little more wobbingly than she could have wished for, but no matter. She hadn't slid off the balcony and that was the important part.
"Is Illumin busy ? I would like to talk to him." At least, her demeanor did not speak of urgent matters or brewing catastrophes.
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:13 pm
"No... no, he is not. He is almost never busy, now that the lights he forged have been placed in the sky again." Eibhilin descended to the balcony as well, though her fingers were folded together and she looked oddly pensive. "He has been much troubled, Lady Music... I hope that your presence can give him solace. It is as though there is a great wall between him and the rest of the world, and I cannot breach it no matter how hard I might try. I had thought your lady daughter had, and yet... the cracks she made, I cannot widen." She bowed, the movement quick and worried. "I hope I do not presume overmuch, my Lady."
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:29 pm
"You do not presume a thing, Eibhlin." The goddess nodded, folding her now large wings against herself neatly. "That would be exactly what I came here for."
Through, Crys had seen Illumin... When ? Ah, no matter.
Sure, she had no idea how she could do it, mind, but that was her intent. But the aoide's words were worrying. If he stayed here, like this... "I am not my daughter, but I have my own ways."
No, she refused to think of it. She would refuse to see it happen, and would drag Illumin kicking and screaming back to the pantheon if that was what she needed to do.
If she had to use her own powers against him in order to make certain that he would not lock himself out and fade anew, then so. be. it.
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:37 pm
"Thank you," Eibhilin said, bowing once more. "We all worry - not just me, but Alvir as well, and the others. This is his town, and yet he has barely laid eyes upon it. He is downstairs, in the greatroom just below. Come..." She floated over to the open trapdoor that revealed the spiral stairs below. Down, down, down they went, only to stop at a landing with a simple door.
"I will let you in," the Aoide said, after a moment's thought. "Otherwise, he may say no. I will not give him the chance." Her tail lashed a bit at her own possible disobedience, but she knocked quickly and opened the door. "A guest, my Lord."
And then she fled down the stairs, leaving Echo to face the surprisingly dark doorway. While some light did escape from within, it was mostly dim... too dim to really make out the shapes that lined the curving walls of the round greatroom. The windows were all curtained so firmly that no light crept in from outside. The only glow came from Illumin himself, the god sitting on a nest of pillows in the center of the room, a small array of palm-sized lights bobbing in the air around him. His personal glow was wan and thin.
"Enter, then, and be done with it," Light said, wearily.
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:00 pm
"I understand." It was all she said as they started to step down, always downward. What else could she say, really ?
No, she needed to steel her words and her resolve. The banshee spoke her bold words and Echo did her best to conceal her smile well. Daring, daring little aoide... No, if Illumin figured this out, then she would simply say she'd barged in herself. How could Eibhlin have stopped a goddess, after all, and one likely immune to her screams, no less ?
But then she was in the room, the door closed behind her, and unease settled in the pit of her stomach like a ten-ton weight. This... was not right. This was not right at all. She only had her own wings to navigate from, the glow of her own eyes piercing the darkness more than Light's own form.
To have come to this... Still, she moved, carefully. If he did not recognize her by voice, he would do so by her voice. "Illumin." Her voice was gentle, but firm at the same time - it was useless to try to drive her away. "It has been a long time... I..."
Well, there was no need to ask how he felt. That was painful evident. "I was worried, you know. Well, am."
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:07 pm
"Echo," Illumin said, clearly surprised; he sat up, his glow increasing slightly. A few of the lights scattered like spooked fireflies before returning timdly to his side. "I was not expecting you... has it been so long since the sky returned?"
After a moment, the god patted tentatively at one of the pillows nearby. "Please, sit..." He was guarded, though, despite the surprise of Echo's presence, as if shying away from an open wound.
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Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:20 pm
Well, this was... Well, what kind of reaction had she expected, really ? She wasn't sure, so she simply discarded the notion, and did just as she was told - came, and sat. Not to close, not too far. Easily reached, but not forcing herself onto him.
If there was something Music knew, it was feelings. She'd danced a similar dance with Nergal before, when he'd been still broken and fractured from whatever it is that had been done to him, back then.
She could dance this dance again. She'd mended her husband, but would she do the same for Light ?
Well.
There was only one way to find out, wasn't it ? Where as the Echo of old might have frozen, paralyzed, the Echo of now continued.
"It had been. Time had slipped away faster than I could keep track of it." Open, and most of all not accusatory in the least. "I've missed you."
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Posted: Thu Feb 23, 2012 8:59 pm
"I... have missed you, as well," Illumin said, after a moment, though he did not look up at her. "There have been many tasks set before me. The crafting of the stars. The rebuilding of this tower, and this town. So... very busy..."
But he drooped visibly over those last halting words. Finally, he looked up at Echo through the fall of his hair, bangs overshadowing his face. "I am so tired," he said, voice cracking at the edges. "So tired of being afraid. Haunted. Hunted."
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Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 1:49 pm
She knew, of course, that these were lies. Even if Eibhilin hadn't told her exactly that, it would have been too easy to guess by the way he looked.
Thankfully, there was no need to pretend to be unaware, as Light dropped his facade by his own will, for which she was thankful. She wanted to reach out and hug him, but Music wasn't sure how he would take it. Instead, one hand reached out for his.
As far as she knew, the only thing hunting him was his own mind, the only ghosts that haunted him being those of his own creation. No one had come to her to know where he was for the sake of punishment, and she had heard no angry whispers.
And Music was quite good at hearing.
"Then speak." She said, softly. "Tell me your fears... Tell me of those ghosts, so that I may try to make them fade away. As long as you keep everything to yourself, those thoughts will not leave." The tune of her wings turned softer, calming, gentle - as if trying to lift that pain away for him. Of course, she couldn't do that, not truly. The steps were Illumin's to take.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:26 pm
"I will tell you," Illumin echoed, still not looking at her. "I am... tired of waiting. Better to tell, and know I am hated and reviled."
There was a long pause.
"Eamnnon and I, we... opened the door. We let Samyaza into the heart of the Pantheon. Gehenna is my fault." He spoke the words with indescribable weariness, as if they had run around in his head for a very, very long time and thus lost all meaning. Almost.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:47 pm
She let him speak, then, as silent as Music Herself could manage to be without straining herself. And, well, she was loathe to actually do so and quiet herself when it seemed to be aiding Light.
She waited out that pause, and what was said after. There had been hint enough, in Wellhaven, in how Light had seemed so desperate to atone for something he did not quite speak about, but she had no idea how deep it had truly ran.
She might have done the same to herself, in her sorrow. She saw no reason to be angry, even if the fault was great. Music had much to lose in the aborted end, more than many - three little bright lives, two that Illumin had seen as only wisps. No, if Illumin had meant to end all, she would have been angry. But it was obvious that he hadn't.
And... Surely the Crown had known, upon his recovery.
It was only when it was evident that Illumin was done that she did speak. The tune of her wings shifted yet again, as if seeking to grap that pain and take it away, as if wanting to clear his thought so that he could think in a way he might not have been able to do for long years.
"And if it was the other way around." She said, simply. "If I had been the one to release that grigori, unknowing of what I was doing... If I had done this, unaware of what would be to consequences... Would you hate me as much as you hate yourself, Light ? Do you loathe Hunt, knowing he had as much hand in this than you have ?" Her voice was gentle, calming, yet unyielding in her own way. The voice of a mother who had raised three children and was, in fact, quite used to standing her own ground.
Clearly, if Light expected, or perhaps even wanted, hateful words, he had chosen the wrong companion.
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 3:48 pm
Illumin's jaw worked. "I would... not, but... the loss, the endings, everything that has happened. If my people knew, they would abandon me in an instant." He remained fixed, as though frozen in place, staring at his own hands.
"... We came before our Lord, throwing ourselves freely upon His judgement. Great tasks were set for each - for myself, I fashioned lights innumerable, which even now blaze above us in the reforged sky. And... Eliam, faithful Aoide, he... sits in Silence for an Age, drinking in the absence of those dead and unmade by Gehenna. In my place." His hands trembled. "He went willingly. My task is now completed, and yet... I cannot move forward. I am chained by this secret. I am lost."
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Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 5:01 pm
"And why do they need to know ? This is a matter between our kind, it is not ?" It was... well. Mortals did not need to know everything. Her followers certainly did not know everything about her. And as far as she knew, the other deities did not know. And those who did... Well, if they had a shred of honor, they would not seek to drive Light's followers from him.
Through they did likely have a guess that something was up, if Illumin had spend most of his time holed up here, instead of with them.
Most did not know of her own folly, actually. She weighted her options carefully, pondering if hearing of the lengths she had went to seek her husband would help, or not. Through, really, there was no comparison, so she let it go.
And even the less kind gods did find worship, through it was not in her nature to understand how. If it was so, then surely Light would find forgiveness for his errors - at least, that was how she saw it. Her other hand moved to try to steady his own, as he did continue. That... No wonder, no wonder he felt the way he did. To think of something like this, happening to one of her own, threatened to rend her heart in two.
"Judgement was given... But not the judgement you wanted." That much was a given. Who would want this, to one of their own ? No, she understood, through she forced herself not to slide into pity. This wasn't what Illumin needed. He'd had more than enough time to beat himself up, as it was.
Through, Eliam had certainly not given himself to this for Illumin to hide away in a similar fashion... But no, that was too harsh for her to dare speak of it. He could guess this for himself. Music much preferred to be gentle, as it was more in her nature.
"And you will be chained as long as you cannot forgive yourself." It was not the world that loathed Light - it was Light that hated himself. She hoped that he could see that, now, a little more clearly. Perhaps what Illumin needed was his own way to atone - not this, not this... darkness in which he would beat himself endlessly, and wither away, slowly but surely, as the world outside forgot him.
"I will not say I would have not done the same if the situation was reversed... Because that would be a lie." No, she'd have hidden away as well, overcome by her own guilt.
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