Welcome to Gaia! ::

"I..." Kairatos started, shoulders stiff as his armor, and then let some of the tension go out of him, but not all of it. His eyes closed for a second as he struggled to try and get control back. "Someone has to carry it..." He protested, but it sounded exhausted. Someone had to carry it, someone had to remember their names, those lost souls who could not even be said to have died fighting their enemies, though he mourned them no less. It was just... different somehow. No one would ever pretend deaths hadn't happened getting the code back, or even nightly in the fight with the Negaverse. "If no one else is going to talk about what happened, someone should." He added, still tiredly. "...Sorry. I know. I... " He squeezed her hand back, gently, lifting the corners of his mouth tensely. She smelled nice, and it wasn't hurt by the small amphorae styled pendant she was wearing. Contrasting bronze and black to her cosmos uniform. The scented oil inside was warmed by being close to her skin and made her smell like old memories mingled with the new ones.

"I'm glad you're here."

The Royal Knight of Earth was interested in seeing how things were going, and glad to see others were taking care of each other and providing a network of information for one another. When he arrived, there were knights already chatting and he hardly knew what to do with himself, feeling a little out of place if only because he was far from a newbie in this war. He wanted to help, though, and was thankful for the opportunity to do so.

He was sure Merlinite would have liked to come, but the half-youma was unfortunately not the knight he wanted to be. Camelot was working on a way to try and purify him, but the idea that he would simply destroy the man's damaged starseed by trying was too much of a risk for him to take outright. It was difficult to broach, but a problem he kept on his mind a lot, just in case some hints for a solution popped up.

(super awkward and lame intro but camelot is here for anyone who wants to talk to him.)

Falias, Knight of Earth

The call was one that Marlin was familiar with, a sort of part tug and part call and one that he had come to associate with things to do with the Code.

It was as Falias that he arrived on Olympus and whilst he expected the heat, it felt hotter than last time...

Although that in part could have been down to the fact that he had still been a squire when he had last been on Olympus and had since his upgrade to knight acquired partial armour in the form of forearm bracers and on his boots which weren't exactly cool.

Hvergelmir had been speaking as he quietly found himself a space, his green eyes absently going to the stall plates that had been hung up since his last visit before giving the Cosmos knight a small nod. He also gave a nod towards Kairatos, although he wasn't sure if either knight had noticed.

The topics that Hvergelmir was talking about were ones that he remembered from last such meeting but whilst he tensed a little at the mention of the knight ring upgrade and at the mention of Mistral's name in particular, Falias for the most part did his best to remain focused.

Mistral and him were most likely never going to be friends but their last encounter had been civil - it had also been awkward as anything but it had still been civil.

And... And I promised myself that I would move forward as a knight he reminded himself
, a part of him reminding himself of the promise he had made - reminded himself that he was going to keep moving forward as a knight.

It was why he had asked Hvergelmir along when he had made his promise to the Lia Fáil and in part why he had accepted Celsus' offer.

He had made his decision and he was going to keep moving forward with it.

Down at the centre Hvergelmir was opening up for questions and whilst Falias didn't have any questions of his own, it didn't stop him listening as others took up the opportunity and neither did it stop him from listening to the answers.

He thought he spotted Camelot amongst the other knights gathered and whilst Falias didn't shift from his standing position he did give the older Earth knight a small smile in addition to his nod.

Scholomance stepped forth where he lingered back, and stood upon one of the ancient steps for the ease of extra height. He cleared his throat and drew back upon the garish grin that covered half his face. Smoothing the front of his jacket, he spoke.

„If I may interrupt,“ he excused himself to Hvergelmir, „I might have some useful information for that page.“ A gloved hand gestured to Cordoba. „And if there’s anyone else curious about ancestry, feel free to listen.

„Your ancestor, so far as I have gathered, was excised from the normal cycle of life specifically to guide you through the training of your knighthood. Mine remained in Scholomance for that specific purpose - and continues to do so. They’re a grand resource for understanding more about your wonder’s past, about the powers you now control as a knight, and your duties for how you are beholden to your wonder. And while you might think of them as ghostly beings that haunt your wonder, I implore you to challenge that thought. While they might be dead, their position is truly to be a service to you.

„Now, also bear in mind that an ancestor has been hanging about the place for roughly a thousand years. That’s quite a bit of time that we, as variable ages, have no concept of. Personally I find my twenty-some years of life is quite a bit of time, but what is that in comparison to a thousand years spent inside an empty, decaying wonder? So, if you come face-to-face with your ancestor, remind yourself of this. They haven’t seen another soul for quite a long time. They may be hostile, or overjoyed, or stunned. They might not even remember why they were there, or how to teach you. I can say with certainty that my ancestor remembered very little at first, but as I continued to visit my wonder, he had more and more to say about how to be a knight of Scholomance.

„As for what you can do for them, beyond learning from them respectfully, I do not know. I imagine that, somehow, they must receive recompense for all their years spent out there. I can’t imagine that they’re resigned to remain there eternally. It’s something worth exploring.

„Apologies, Hvergelmir, for absconding with your spot.“ He smiled at her with a hint of embarrassment before seating himself.

Hvergelmir took Cordoba's next question more in stride. It was straightforward and fair, and she was pleased to see someone taking an interest in their Wonders themselves -- not just the immediate things that protected their lives. It was a good sign that people, by and large, were getting more comfortable with defending themselves, and more willing to take on roles in contributing to helping all of them as a whole. It was a sign that, as a faction, they were growing. Getting more sure of themselves. Stronger.

"I think that's a fantastic question," she said. "I like how you think. First of all, if you're anything like me, you'll probably have found that, after several hundred years of neglect and exposure, many of your Wonders may not be in perfectly great shape. There's a lot we can do about that -- either rolling up our sleeves and trying to make repairs or clean things up, or else, in some cases, simply by spending enough time there. In some ways, our Wonders have been eroding, all this time -- but in some ways, if you're there long enough, you can feel that maybe your Wonder's sort of been hibernating, too, waiting for its next Knight to come and wake it up again. The more you visit, the more you might start to feel the energy of it all stirring around you. Depending on the nature of your Wonder, you might even start to see a few dead plants start to come back to life, if you've spent enough time there."

Not her own Wonder, of course -- her island had never been a lush paradise, and its only garden had been made of imported plants that had died off long ago and hadn't returned no matter how long she spent there -- but she'd heard of one or two cases of new growth. Babylon had flowers budding on some of the trees. Falias, on the other hand, as far as she knew, had always been a dense forest -- it hadn't died in its knight's absence. All things varied.

"Aside from that, I'd say one thing to consider here is that all of our Wonders became wonders for a reason: every knight's land is special in some way, and often that means every land has some purpose, or some benefit, or something else that makes it worth our guardianship. Try to discover what gives your Wonder its power and its importance, and work with that. Think about whether it's something worth renewing, or something that can be of benefit to you or to someone else. If there's something at your Wonder that can help us all, you're the only one who's capable of finding it. Keep your eyes open, and think creatively."

Hvergelmir stiffened, slightly, at the questions about children in the war and child sailor soldiers. "I've met a Negaverse agent who looked about fourteen or fifteen, at the most, a young boy with curly brown hair and more ambition than understanding of what he was a part of. I met another -- a knight, like us, now -- but when I met her she was fifteen years old, and the Negaverse had already promoted her to a Captain. She was terrified that she was too evil to ever be saved. And I've met young people on our side of the war, too -- certainly there are some sitting in this room. You're right, it seems the Negaverse sees no use in conscripting certain children if they're too young to meet Metallia's needs -- but unfortunately, that attitude hasn't led them to spare or protect Destiny City's children, either. Their youma will prey on anyone they can catch . . . and children are easy prey for them. It turns my stomach to think of children forced to fight in this war, to defend their own lives from monsters -- but you and I didn't bring this war to their doorstep, and those children who are born with powers stand at least a slightly better chance of not being killed than the ones who have nothing but luck on their side. I don't like it, but even children have a right to defend their own lives."

It was not a pleasant situation -- and it was a popular line among Negaverse agents, that somehow they were a child-friendly organization just because they didn't recruit anyone with an age ending in less than "-teen" -- but it was not a situation that Order's forces had created. Knights and sailor soldiers weren't out on the streets attacking children.

"I don't doubt," she went on, "that there are some large elements of truth in the tales we know of the old war. Much of it has been confirmed by our own sources -- although there, again, Queen Beryl and Queen Metallia were the instigators, they led the first assault. That aside, their war is not our war. Their cause is not our cause. I do not serve a Moon Queen, living or dead, and a war against her is not a war against me. I'm not sure anyone in this room wants this war to go on, even if the Moon Queen does exist. And if it ever turns out that she does, there's no guarantee of what she stands for. But we can decide what we stand for, and we can stand by that. The Moon Queen doesn't have to be right or wrong -- we have to be right or wrong." She smiled. "I've seen incredible conviction from this group of people. Incredible courage and incredible compassion. There's no one with more passion for justice or for peace than the people standing right here in this room. In my opinion, let the Moon Queen come, whatever her motives: I have no doubt that every person in this room would decide for themselves whether her banner is worth marching under."

Of that much, Hvergelmir was confident. She gazed out over the room, for a moment, with a proud and fond smile. She had sat in gatherings with so many people here before, fought beside them, spoken with them. Each person had their own life, their own perspective, their own needs and hopes: she was certain that if any Moon Queen ever appeared before them, the people standing before her would have no fear in giving her a piece of their mind.

As the knight of the Cosmos spoke, she really was a sight to behold, Venice found himself taking in what she said and giving it a moment before he spoke up, something of a question but also a thought. "We are all not the same - ancestors too. Different planets, different cultures, rituals...maybe different ways to return their souls to be reborn? Something for each to discover on our own self...a task." He offered up in the best English he could. Standing he made toward her.

"Sorry for bad English...not first language, or second. Maybe way to return soul is separate...Transcending is different for each, yes? So same here too perhaps." He thought it best to perhaps keep his voice down, to not draw such attention to himself...he didn't want the attention but he did want to get his idea out there, at least to the one with the podium to stand at and speak from.

"Maybe to planets culture...or maybe to each wonder or individual..." Or some combination of them? He couldn't be sure but it was an idea and something worth putting out there, at least he thought so. it might be something they each needed to discover, and some would in time if they knew to look for it...to seek it?