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 Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 7:24 pm
He felt as though time had both slowed down in sped up too fast in the past several years, never in convenient times, always with the worst possible outcomes, at least in most cases. Sometimes he felt an eternity old, stuck stagnant within the body of a twenty-eight year old man. Other times he felt as weak and foolish as he'd been when he'd first awoken, unable to even do much except follow blindly in the footsteps of the others.
But even after all that time; after all the mishaps and the chaos and the losses - and there had been so many of them, each one of them painful and agonizing, and some more so than others - there was at least one constant within Celsus' life, and he was grateful for it. It gave him a pronounced sense of stability in a world where nothing else was, and where their own kind were dying, slowly weeded out as the Negaverse took over.
She was at her apartment when he arrived, which was just around the corner from one of the hospitals. As usual, he did not come through the front door, but instead appeared through a window as quietly and easily as though he were a shadow, standing in the middle of the room, a floor length cape drawn about his shoulders. And, also as usual, he dropped to one knee, bent over in a low bow, a hand on his chest.
"Good evening, Princess Chronos."
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Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 8:33 am
Sometimes, it seemed as though she couldn't quite keep track of exactly how old she was with each passing year. If asked, Serenade had to pause and do the math in her head; it wasn't something that she paid particular attention to. Her birthday didn't seem like it was anything special any longer, not when those who had given her life were not by her side.
Chronos certainly felt like a shell of her former self. It wasn't as easy to force a smile upon her face, or even laugh; it had been ages since she had felt such joy that giggles would overtake her. It was all she could do to keep herself going for the sake of what she had left.
She had been resting in headquarters after guard duty; it wasn't that she was physically exhausted, though she was certainly emotionally drained. Every single time she was out there, she could easily recall the memories of her former life where they had stood side by side upon the Surrounding to hold the line.
She could never forget fighting alongside those she had lost.
But not all of them were. And it was for those people, the ones remaining in her Court, that she held herself up as much as she possibly could. Like him; whom she could sense before he even spoke, and Chronos turned to give him a small wan smile. "Good evening, Celsus. I am glad to see you are well."
It was a small blessing, but she always thanked the stars whenever she saw any one of them in person, because it meant that they were still alive.
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Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 4:36 pm
He remained bent on one knee as she greeted him, his posture deliberately both respectful and submissive; a clear indication of where his loyalties lay in the chaos of the war around them. It wasn't until she finished speaking that Celsus deemed it appropriate to rise. He hesitated a moment and then stepped forward, reaching out to take one of Chronos' slender hands in his.
"Likewise, your highness," he said gently, and bent to kiss the back of her hand, lingering for a moment before letting go and stepping away. He tucked his hands against the small of his back, more out of habit than anything else, and glanced around at the small room she was in, the weary expression on the princess' face.
"How are you faring?" Celsus asked her, taking a small breath, because it was a pointless question; they were all pointless, there was always the same answer to everything. Sometimes it was just in a different phrase, a different tone of voice, but it was always the same.
Happiness was an emotion hard pressed to find in these days, after all.
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 8:12 am
When she was but a teenager, she had been awkward with gestures of respect. After all, she was usually younger than most members of her Court, except for a select few, and she had also been in denial of the huge responsibility that came with her position.
And now with years of experience weighing her down, she had come to accept and understand that it was something she could not change, like how no one could stop how much she constantly feared she would lose another one of them.
She squeezed his hand back in return gently, a small sign of her appreciation. "I'm as well as I can possibly be." She answered. Chronos had never been an extremely adept liar, and she especially found it difficult to lie to any member of her Court. She was no longer wide-eyed and naive with such softness in her eyes. "Maman is stable, as she always has been." The doctors still had no idea when she would awaken, but as long as her situation did not take a turn for the worse, Chronos herself too, was stable as much as she possibly could be.
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 2:32 pm
From the start, he had always been one to show his respect towards Chronos; had always knelt down in front of her to kiss her hand, had always bent over in a bow, a gesture of submission to her and her alone, because there was no one else for which he held in such high esteem - and no one else that he had pledged such undying loyalty towards.
He lived solely for the Princess Chronos, and that was it. Most of the time, Celsus did not even really think that he lived for himself.
Celsus felt her squeeze his hand gently, and the gesture was welcomed. She did not look like her usual radiant self; the war had taken its toll upon her, and there was a weariness in her countenance that made his heart ache. She was simple in her answers, as well as honest, which Celsus appreciated, because he did not like not knowing when she was upset or anxious or hurt.
"Stable is better than nothing," he said quietly, though this was hardly of any comfort to her. "We will find a way to help her wake; I will do my best to make sure she stays safe."
He gave a little sigh, exhaling a breath. "You have told me how your mother is," said Celsus softly, "but how, pray tell, are you doing? Do you have need of anything, My Lady?"
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