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 Posted: Fri Aug 30, 2024 8:34 pm
Mary led Damaris through the gardens outside the estate until they came to a small alcove hidden among the hedges. There was a fountain with a plaque in the center of the alcove, and a bench to one side. The plaque only had the Chronos symbol on it, faded by the weather and time. She powered up with a sigh and waited for Damaris to do the same.
"Now, hold my hand and don't let go.
"I pledge my life and loyalty to Chronos, and to the Bifrost. I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine."
She felt the familiar shift of space as they reappeared on the Surrounding, before the ivory marble of the Bifrost's command pedestal. A moth fluttered from the railing to Bifrost's out waiting hand. There was an odd lack of sound, broken only on the Bifrost by the sounds of a few insects. The road beneath their feet rippled as Bifrost moved up the few steps to the pedestal.
"Welcome, Magion, to the Bifrost and the Surrounding."
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Posted: Sun Sep 08, 2024 6:22 pm
Magion was terribly excited. She followed Mary and powered up when she was instructed to do so, and when she took hold of Mary–Bifrost’s hand, she squeezed it tightly with absolutely no intention of letting it go.
When they arrived up on the Surrounding, she still didn’t let go of Bifrost's hand, and instead looked around, eyes wide. “It’s lovely.” Her voice was soft, and her eyes landed on the moth, a smile curling her lips.
“I knew it would be since it’s your Wonder but, I am so very glad that I’m right! Will you take me on a tour, Bifrost! Show me what you protect!”
This…place. The Surrounding…it was…interesting. Different.
She wasn’t really sure what she thought but…she was excited to see where her friend made her…well. Not home. But where she performed her duties.
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:31 pm
Bifrost smiled a little sadly, looking at the rest of the rainbow road now behind them for a moment. Her wonder was built for showing someone the Surrounding, though something felt... sad about trying to do that now.
"The Bifrost used to be a sort of 'short cut' system across the Surrounding. For instance," she pressed her hand into the depression on the top of the pedestal and a flare of energy and light rippled down the column, "As thy Gatekeeper, I bid thee, open a way to the Aquarius Outpost."
The whole balcony shimmered as the railing across from where they stood shuddered and opened out into the abyss of space. With a soft rumble, a bridge began to form that arched up slowly and vanishing into the dark sky beyond. Railings lined both sides of the bridge, which looked to fit about four people across comfortably.
A few moments later, there was a distant 'thudding' sort of sound and the rumble stopped.
"The bridge can connect between any of the outposts, except for Sagittarius and Aries. Their senshi died before the knights were awoken in this era, so I've never gotten it to work near those two outposts. That said... as you can see it doesn't really, get much use."
The knight gazed out into the vanishing dark for a moment then flexed her fingers. "As thy Gatekeeper, I bid thee, close the way." The words were soft, quiet, and full of a deep sorrow.
A minute or so later, the balcony was back to how it looked when they arrived.
"It is, however, not just a bridge across the expanse of space. There are a few places I've found over the years, either by need or luck. Even with the memories of my predecessor merged with mine now, I don't know just how many places it can create." Bifrost looked over at Magion and smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Would you like to see the safe house or where the Bifrost's piece of the Knight's Code is first?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2024 5:40 pm
Magion watched her new friend with some concern and listened as she spoke of her Wonder. Her duties. Her…duties that seemed as though they didn’t matter any longer. How…
Uncomfortable that must be.
At the question, she hummed softly and took a few steps closer, reaching out and placing her hands on either side of Bifrost’s cheeks, pressing their foreheads together. It was something she had always done with those close to her. It was her way of providing comfort.
“Bifrost. None of what happened is your fault. If you blame yourself, you are only causing yourself harm. You matter. No matter what you may think…and no matter what this…surrounding might tell you. You are still here. You are still standing. You matter...and if others were here. They would agree with me. I can’t speak for anyone but. Bifrost…”
She drew away slightly and then pressed the tip of her nose against her friends. “I want to see anything and everything that you wish to show me. I think this is all amazing.”
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2024 6:11 pm
Uncomfortable the mildest way to put the despair hiding in her chest. She'd been sixteen and awkward and in love with a girl who'd never love her back (if it even was love then) when the Surrounding called her to it's broken and flickering road. She'd been sixteen when she'd died, protecting that same girl. She'd been sixteen when the Surrounding gave life again.
She'd been eighteen? Nineteen? When she got memories from a future that never came to pass.
She'd been twenty three when she locked herself up here, to avoid the pain to avoid the agony of loving two men who would never love her back. She'd been twenty three when she realized that it was up to her and her alone to hold the line.
She'd been twenty five when the Vanguard came to earth to stay. She'd been twenty five when she realized that the Surrounding was no longer necessary... when she wasn't necessary.
She was twenty eight now, and the silence of the Surrounding was deafening.
She could not falter, she could not fail, there were barely any of the Chronos knights left. She was who remained, she was who had to hold the line, she had to---
Hands gently grabbed her cheeks and she stared at Magion who pressed their foreheads together. She spoke and all the despair, all the loss, all the abandonment in her chest bubbled up to the surface. Her fingers twitched, wanting to scratch, to tear, to make the pain go away, but Magion kept talking, never giving her a chance to.
The walls that Bifrost had built up over the twelve years since she'd first set foot on the Surrounding, the walls that she'd put into place knowing that it was her burden to bear, that she was the only one who could, shattered.
She trembled, hands coming up to cling to Magion with white knuckles. The emotion erupted in a wail as she stumbled forward and into Magion.
She couldn't matter, she couldn't, no one cared about the Surrounding or the Chronos knights anymore. It was broken, it was lost. It was only her against the endless void of space. Her duty. Her line. Her hope.
Bifrost sobbed into Magion's shoulder, the only sound around them.
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2024 6:25 pm
Her arms wrapped around Bifrost and Magion gently held her, taking a half step back and slowly lowering them both to the ground so that she could better support her friend. “That’s it. Let it all out. We have all the time in the world, Bifrost. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. And neither are you.”
Her fingers gently began to card through the light blonde hair and she began to hum a soft lullaby from when she was younger. She couldn't remember the words, but the melody always lingered, and it had often brought her comfort in the days…weeks. Decades that she was alone on the island.
She understood. Feeling alone. Feeling as though nothing mattered. Feeling trapped in…duty. A duty that no longer seemed to matter.
Being stuck and unable to break free…
“I’m so proud of you. I know we just met and it might sound silly. But you’re really strong. I know how it feels…when you feel like nothing you do matters. When you feel like there’s no hope…I get it. But. I’m so proud of you for holding. And now I’m here to hold you. And I will! I promise.”
For as long as she was allowed to.
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Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 7:15 pm
Her hands fistted in Magion's skirts as they sank to the ground, holding onto the living, real person gently stroking her hair. She felt the melody she hummed in her chest, a soft tune that reminded her so vividly of that of her grandfather's, when he would sing her to sleep after a fight with her mother.
She had lost so many over the years. Her grandfather. Her parents. Raven. Chronos, Midgard, Celsus... Prena, even. She remained while everyone else moved on, while the universe moved on. Bifrost was alone, had been alone, for so very, very long.
Then she met a bewildered senshi from the depths of space, who radiated joy and cheerfulness, who also had been left alone by everyone... and everything. Who, despite the despair, still smiled, still fought on, still held onto hope.
"Pl-please.... please don't leave me... I..." she whispered, her voice hoarse and broken with sobs.
Bifrost had felt fleeting flickers of hope over the years. First, when life came to her wonder. Second, when she'd found the original Bifrost and revitalized the Code Piece and her connection to it. Yet, it was always fleeting, always slipping away.
She had thought herself hope incarnate for so long, she'd forgotten what hope felt like. Magion was hope, maybe more so than Bifrost had ever been.
If Magion could keep holding on after centuries... Bifrost could too.
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Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 7:50 pm
“I am not going anywhere, Bifrost! Mary, you are the best friend I have! I will never leave you!” Not by choice or otherwise, if she could help it! Mary was wonderful. “You are wonderful. You are kind, and sweet and caring!” She continued to stroke the Knight’s hair, pressing her cheek against the top of her head and giving a soft sigh.
“I will never leave you. And if I must go somewhere, you will simply go with me, and that will be the end of it. You and I…we can walk our paths together, if you would like? I would be honored to have you by my side…and I would be so happy to remain by yours! Come…why don’t we go back to Earth? We can lay under that blanket with the fish on it? And I can hold you and we can maybe have something good and sweet to eat. That was always my mother’s rule. If you’re sad, be sad but then follow up with something sweet to brighten your mood! I think it is a very good rule. Come, Bifrost. I have you. I will never let you go.”
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Posted: Fri Oct 04, 2024 8:51 pm
The wonder was silent for a very long time, broken only by Bifrost's sobs and hiccups, after Magion spoke. A large part of Bifrost didn't fully believe her; her words were fighting against over a decade of self talk and learned experiences. Magion couldn't promise to never leave her; at some point it would happen, whether they wanted it to or not. Old age, an accident, Chaos... nothing was certain.
There was a part of her, the part of her that still held onto hope, even after all this time, that clung to those words like a lifeline.
"Let's go home, 'Mari... and thank you," she said softly. Then she thought of home, of that blanket with the fishes on it, and the Bifrost was empty once more.
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