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 Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:57 pm
"I have brought such wickedness into the world," Illumin whispered, wings shuddering. One of them was still tattered on the edges, streaked with white and gray - the mark of Remuel's claws. "My life is... ought to be forfeit. If one under me did something like this, I would have taken them. That was how it was, in the old days... and yet He let me live. I cannot fathom why... for my power, for what I could do? I have done that, filled the sky again, and yet the pain does not leave me! I wept with Lament, and it is still here!"
As he spoke, his voice rose into an anguished cry; those last words were nearly shouted. Not at her, not directly, but into the shadowed darkness of the room.
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Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 4:23 pm
 "Because."
"You."
"Will."
"Not."
"Forgive."
"Yourself."
She hadn't moved, had not shouted, and yet her voice had overtook his near-screaming, drowned it out in a flurry of what sounded almost like sharp flute note, meant to lure his mind back from that hysteria. It helped that she'd been there before, in a way. And, well, she was used to having to beat things straight into Underworld's skull if that was what it took.
When she was confident she probably had Illumin's attention again, her voice settled to the more mortal-like tone she usually held - and her hand went to cup his chin, made him look at her. "My son, my daughter... They are very capable, in spite of their young age. Bright little stars, full of future and potential, full of life and wonder." But that was neither here or there. "Yet there are only so much they can do you, Illumin, if you are not willing. They can put a balm on the wound, make the sting go away for a time. But only you can heal it. Only you can purge the poison lurking in your mind. He could give you endless tasks, have you fashion endless stars. Lacrymosa could make you cry until there was no water left in your being. Akakios could sit in this room and recite for as long as you'd like him to, but what would it change if you crawled right back into this darkness to be forgotten once they were all done ?"
"You are Light. You may believe that everything you do is tinted, but I know it otherwise. I have seen it with my own eyes, many times before. You were one of the first bearings I had of how to be a goddess when I barely remembered any of my own names ! Bring that good to the world again, fill it with Light itself, fill it until there is nothing left to fill if that is what it takes !"
Then, her words turned to Song, through not even Music herself seemed to notice. This was Music, raw and intense like in the old beginning, all passion and deep emotion before it had been tempered into meekness, too much meekness, from ages of ruling, of being surrounded by gods much greater than she and losing her own sense of self-worth.
"Do it for Eibhilin, who all but begged me to aid you even through I already had that task in mind, for she can no longer reach your heart and mind. Do it for Eliam, whose sacrifice should not be in vain. Do it for the mortals of this village who have seen me come and are left to wonder where their god has gone. Do it for your other, who will one day come and wonder where you are, and will need your experience and guidance."
"Do it for my children, who have not yet had the honor to see Light and it's wonders, to see you at your best. Do it for me, for my heart aches to see you like this, for I can only hope and pray that I can reach you, because the Twin Crown help me, I will not see you fade to this darkness !"
Her gaze was locked in his now, bright blue eyes into sea green ones, the light blue irises ever shifting with every word that escaped her mouth. A gaze nearly as piercing as the brightest of his lights.
"But, most important of all, do it for yourself, Light. Do it for yourself, because no. one. else. can. do. it."
Finally, she did breathe, in a way that looked ethereal and out of place.
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Posted: Wed Feb 29, 2012 10:13 pm
The sound of her voice crashed through everything, including his own words; he stared at her open-mouthed for a moment before recovering his composure... but her song was wrapping around him, stern and gentle all at once, her touch on his chin soft.
The Song was everything, wrapping around him; Light flared unbidden from his skin, mingling with her mana in a joyous dance. Emotion, sensation, all wrapped up in her power and delivered to him as their eyes met.
And then the Song ended. Illumin found himself tipped forward, on his hands and knees, tears streaming down his cheeks, hot and genuine. Like how he had wept for Lacrymosa, but... different, now.
"Forgiveness... has not traditionally been one of Light's virtues," he managed, after a moment, closing his eyes. He pushed off the floor, rocking back to a sitting position, swaying for a moment as if stunned. "Such fury, such desire for vengeance... in the past... and Light faltered. Faded..." He took a deep breath. "This cage... is of my own making? Truly?"
He looked up at her, everything in his expression and stance begging for that last reassurance. That last key.
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Posted: Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:33 pm
That hand moved again, to dry those tears away as they came. Echo did not delight in causing such a reaction, but it was what Illumin had needed - therefore, she wasn't sorry to see him cry.
"We all learn to be what we were not, before." She said, softly. Before the fading, would she have ever dared to do such a thing ? Intervene in such a way with another of her peers ? Probably not.
"It is." Music continued. She understood his pain, of course... But eventually, one needed to move on. And that was what she hoped Light would do, now.
Hopefully she wouldn't need to find Ea and do the same - she doubted she would be quite as successful there. Better leave that to Beryl, wherever the both of them were.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 11:42 am
"Oh," Illumin whispered, then slumped. He was silent again for a long moment... and then he started to laugh. Just a soft chuckle at first, but it worked its way up into something Lisana would have been proud of. "I am always... such a vain creature, aren't I... even in my anguish, treasuring it like a dragon's pearl..."
There was something genuine in the laughter, though, something that went beyond self-mocking.
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Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 4:00 pm
Again, Echo was silent, save for the ever-shifting tune of her wings, for as long as Illumin needed it, through the first giggles did have her raise an eyebrow in confusion.
"We each have our follies." She said, voice tinted with a similar kind of amusement. Yes, that vanity that had annoyed her young host so much, she remembered it well.
Was she not often kind when she should be strong, and sometimes even rigid when it would be better to be soft ? Did she not, even now, want to hide those follies away in hopes that all would love her, even through she knew it impossible ?
Her smile was quite telling, indeed, through she did not elaborate. "Will you come with me, now ?" She asked. "Eibhilin awaits her Lord, and so do the mortals outside. If you are ready."
She could stay as long as Illumin needed it. She could easily sit in this very room for days, week more if Light needed it. Her children could certainly care for themselves.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 10:03 am
He could not have imagined the difference her presence - and her power, the true strength of Music laid forth for him, for him - could have made. "Those who call Music weak speak utter folly," he said, the faintest smile twitching at the corners of his lips, the expression strange and unfamiliar after so long spent without it. "The town is... I know they are still there. I have felt them sustaining me, despite everything. They believe," and that last was in a tone of vague wonderment. "Despite everything, they believe."
He got to his feet slowly, then walked over to one curtained window. He hesitated for a moment, then snatched up the fabric in both hands and tore it away with all his strength. Light streamed in at once, dancing around his form in delighted halo. Illumin stood in the sunbeam, letting his own element warm and sustain him.
Awaken him.
"What can I do?" There was something odd about the question; it was not permeated in despair as it might have been a mere hour ago. "I can do... nearly anything, can I not? Bring light and hope into the world to counteract what was released by my hand?"
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 12:04 pm
"Once upon a time, they would have been right." The admission came freely, because... Well, it was true. She had once been weak - both of power and of personality, second-doubting herself and and her own worth constantly.
Once, the simple idea of having to do what she had just done would have paralyzed her. But not anymore. She had learned to be strong, through her own experiences and mistakes.
Echo remained seated when he stood to tear the curtain off, and pondered the question asked of her. "Whatever you feel is best." Music nodded, but wasn't quite sure what that action would be. She wasn't him, after all, and she knew that Music and Light could see things quite differently.
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Posted: Wed Mar 07, 2012 6:00 pm
"Then I shall dedicate myself, having completed the task laid upon me by our Lord," Illumin said quietly, solemnly. He put one hand on the windowframe, looking down at the town below. "What was lost cannot be replaced, but what remains can be renewed... must be renewed. That... that is what I must do. Bring renewal. Bring Light..."
He gestured sharply with one hand; a pulse of light like an arrow came forth, once, twice, and the curtains blocking the other windows fell with a faint smell of smoke. He had burned them through. "Hah... like on Wellhaven. I feel them too, sometimes. Thinking of me." He looked back over his shoulder at her, his smile a bit bolder.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 12:48 pm
Echo finally rose once the last curtains were burned off, through she had been clearly unafraid as the lights had gone flying, and burning in their wake. She knew that Illumin was not careless with the power he wielded.
"They think of me, too." She said with a smile, and she looked out the window to the town from where she stood at his side. "Mortals are so crafty... This place is so beautiful." She would have to visit it more truly, rather than simply fly over it, but Illumin's needs had taken resplendence over her wants.
"Did you have anything in mind ?" She asked, curious.
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Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 3:55 pm
"When I first came here, it was under Destruction's heel. The sea had pulled away from the harbor, everything was crumbling... they worked so hard to restore everything." Illumin turned back to look over the village below. While there were obvious scars - ruins that had yet to be rebuilt, masts of sunken ships sticking up over the waves, and the soft mounds of graves off to one side, the little community had done well for itself...
"Emerge. Speak, listen. Act. Be. And strive in that being to renew all that is mine, and some things that aren't."
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Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2012 7:13 am
There were still scars almost everywhere, if you looked hard enough. It would take a long time - so long - for the worlds to truly recover from Gehenna in full, she knew.
But... they were on the right track, at least. This was something she could do - help the mortals rebuild. Help stir belief in herself and her brethren.
Music might not have been the best fighter, but she was far from useless. She knew this now, at last.
Echo nodded - not that Illumin needed her approval, really. "Reach out, and be."
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 12:01 pm
"Yes... and no more hiding. If it... the matter arises among the divine, then... I will face it." His wings shook against each other for a moment, but he did not move to hide or cower. "Else, I shall do what I must. I shall go among them..."
He looked back at her, a faint but genuine smile on his face. "Come down with me?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:28 pm
She nodded again, her own smile wide, natural and genuine. Music stood quite a bit shorter than Illumin was, even at the height of her power, barely taller than her own host had been, even - and yet she had to be careful not to give him a good whack with her massive wings as she moved.
No, that was reserved for if the thought of hiding like this ever occurred to him again.
"Of course." She said, simply, and waited for him to go first. The first steps were always the hardest, she knew.
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Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2012 1:57 pm
Outside, the town's bell began to chime - Eibhilin's doing, no doubt, though who knew whether she'd been listening in or simply trusted Echo just that much. Either way, the people of Solde were coming out of their houses, gazes turned attentively, expectantly, towards the Beacon.
There were stairs that led down to the lighthouse entrance proper, but Illumin was standing by a window. He pushed it open, the panes banging against the lighthouse walls. "I find myself loath to go back inside. Shall we?" he asked, his smile growing wider.
And then he was through the window, wings flaring outwards, light dancing around him. "Follow!" he called back, with more joy than had been in his voice for some time. The mortals below heard it, and marked it.
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