• Graded • CitW: The Dead

[Varlum]

One by one, they spoke.

But the words that stuck through were hers. Her echoes of his own, speaking in unison with him. Flame of her forge. Everything she stands for. Words he had longed to hear for so long, though never like this. Something about the girl had made the Ithecal feel an emotion he had never felt before, not in the same way he had ever looked at anyone. He had even told Evianna, a girl that adored him, that they could stay friends and not more. That despite not yet being with Auya, officially at least, he wouldn't risk what chances he had. For a while, he deemed it hopeless. An Ithecal Lightning Knight, violence flowing deep inside of his veins and war all he knew, had no place with a girl as sweet and kind as her. But she had quickly shown him that wasn't true. Now, however, he knew it for sure. As she kneeled, as she cried - and as she confessed. It was hard to watch. But he did. His eyes met hers and he smiled. As pained as she was he wanted to smile for her. He wanted their confession to be one he remembered with love. With happiness.

Varlum's eyes then followed to each of the others as they said their piece, as they justified her life in the same way he had done. When Hart spoke the Ithecal glanced up, tears finally gone, before giving all but a small nod to the man with a hardened look in his eyes. "Thank you" he said quietly, though he was unsure what for himself. Perhaps defending Auya, perhaps for his promise, perhaps just for being here. Something inside of him thought it might have been all of the above. Despite being in a room of people the Ithecal found himself feeling lonelier than ever. As he stared helplessly at the girl he had fallen so deeply for, there was nothing but a lingering dread. All he could do was watch. In Rharne he could defend her. Break down doors that separated them, call for her when she needed it, fight off anyone that would have dared lay a hand on her. But not here. Here, it was clear the rules were different. Which meant there was nothing. His promise to protect her, now, was nothing. No matter how much he desired it, and would desire it for every moment he breathed, he had failed.

Once everyone had spoken Varlum listened to Vri as he said his own part. But two words sunk in, two words that followed a phrase. 'Have faith'. Of course, he already did. If not for himself then for her, he believed. But hearing it from another, from whoever this man was, mattered. Hope was all he had left now. Hope for the Auya to find the best outcome. Varlum prayed to Ethelynda that the outcome she got was life, that he could protect her going forward as he had vowed to do. But if it meant she had an afterlife better than her current one had given her then so be it. Whatever left her happiest was all he wanted. Anything that he gave her, everything he had wanted to but never could. Whatever that took was worth it. Even if it meant he wasn't there for it. As painful as that would be for him. She would find a happiness, or perhaps the afterlife would have a version of him just for her. So she would never know it wasn't the real thing. She would never feel alone.

Perhaps he would make her happier than Varlum ever could.

Varlum didn't hesitate when he was told his role by the One, ignoring the room that shifted around them as he sat himself up, strong and ready. Now, he would not be weak. Now he would be her love - and her love was strong. Her love was unmoving and unbreakable. That was who she was, that was what Varlum would be. He hoped Auya would forgive him for what he was about to share. If she didn't, he hoped she lived to hate him. At least she would have her life then. "In the time I first met her, Auya Trueheart, she was hurting. Bruised, broken, pained and afraid. Just a bar maid, or that's what many saw her as. None of her bruises mattered to them. Not one of them stopped to ask why. Be it for a lack of care, a prejudice or two, or the alcohol blurring the line between reason. Nobody dared to ask but one man."

Varlum glanced to Auya for just a moment, apology written across his eyes, before turning back to the people around them. "I walked her home after she told me the truth, of what men had done to her. Of the assault she had endured and the pain it had caused her. We met for trials after, in and out, travelling together and spending what time we could afford" he explained, voice remaining strong this time as he focused forward. Refusing to break. Refusing to crack in any way. Not now. He had his time of weakness, he showed her the pain he felt. Now, he showed her the strength she was worth. "But the event, in particular, was a dance. Just one, for a short while. In among a crowd of people who stared and looked, judged and whispered. Eyes focused on the Ithecal lightning knight that dared to affiliate with a woman of red hair. With all the events going on in Rharne, why wouldn't they? For a moment, I was afraid. Not because I could not defend her, I could if I needed to. But because she must have been afraid too. Because I was there out of love for her. I was there out of adoration for her. I wanted it to be perfect."

"And she was bold. She held my arm with pride, smiled at all we met, introduced me to strangers we had never spent time with before. We danced, we hugged, we embraced. We loved and we laughed. We held on to the one thing in the room that mattered. We protected one another. We were the shield to our partner and the wind beneath their wings" he said as he felt her warmth wrapped around his torso as the two held each other close. As the tear fell this time it was a happy one, small but notable as he could almost see how beautiful she had looked. "Despite every bit of harm they had done to her, she had loved. Despite every reason she had to be afraid, she loved. And now, despite everything that has happened, despite watching the man she leaned upon plead for her life and plead for her innocence - she loves. As we speak, she is loving. As am I."

Silence followed for just a trill before he felt it. Both of his eyes moved to where the glass had been and now went dark. He didn't know how or why he knew, yet even the One responded with a tear. As did Varlum. One, two and then many more began to stream as he felt her love and he tried to understand. When the One asked him to continue Varlum stood up, eyes focused on theirs with a stubborn determination. Ferocity was in his veins as the blood of Faldrun flowed through him. "You want me to continue. To tell you what I would give up?" he asked, holding back a snarl as the tears streamed and the blood of his father flowed clear in his features. "You want to know what I would give up for that girl, you even need to ask? If she would forgive me for it, I would die for her. But she would never want that. I would never put that on her shoulders."

"But every part of my life, bar the living? Take it. My job, my home, my friends. The people that knew me once need never remember me again. The people that saw me won't ever remember me. The men and women that I fought beside will never know the name Varlum and never hear it again. My magic will never be cast again, my blessing removed, my title of Defender torn away and the blood of the Immortals inside my veins gone. I will give it all up. None of it matters, not if it means I get her back. She is worth it all."

"Just bring her back to me. Give me back my reason for being."

[Kesindir]

There is a moment in time where one's outlook on life can change. Where things just sort of ... click together. Sitting in a cloud of haze and fog, nothing making sense, and then the sun peaks through and all that haze lifts and you can finally see the beauty in life, the love that was there when everything was created. That moment, was here. It was now. In this strange room, with strangers who knew, loved, or completely felt impartial to the girl behind the glass, Auya Trueheart, here was that clarity, at least for Kesindir. It was true, they all were fighting for something far greater than the sum of all of them, but here, in this moment, the other mattered not. Everyone here had a singular goal. Or so he thought.

Vri spoke and then The One spoke. They, the Voices as they were called, would determine her fate. Whether she was to lie in eternal torment, or be allowed to walk the path of the correct death. As if any death could be seen as correct. Though, as The One continued to speak, it wasn't just Auya that had something on the line. Each of them gathered had a stake in this. Unwilling as he'd been in being brought here, he had something to lose. If there was something at stake, they had to fight. Just like with the Shadow Beasts. Even if it terrified him, the prospect of facing whatever hell The One had planned, intended or not, for him was worth fighting against.

love, Hope, Justice, and ...Balance. And in that moment, that very small blink of an eye that the One spoke, Kes suddenly knew Auya. From her very beginnings all the way to the moment she closed the door and ceased to be. Every. Single. Thought. Every emotion. Every person she'd ever met, ever moment she shared, everything. It scared him, as he sifted through memories in trills stretched out for trials, he looked through this woman's life, for anything that would help him convince the One that she should walk the true path of death. He knew, somehow, that the impartial Tio, would be on the other side of the coin, arguing for her to stay in the eternal torment as Sentient Dust.

He was engrossed, so focused on browsing every trill of this woman's life, he heard no one else, saw nothing any of them did. What they said did not affect what he had to say. What he needed to put forward in her defense. What little there was .... for someone that everyone was fighting so hard for, there wasn't anything ...worth it. There was nothing that he could immediately find that made him think she was even remotely worth fighting for in this. She'd killed, in cold bold, she'd burned down her forge, and generally had a fairly .... shit life. His heart sank as the gravity of that statement fell over him. As he realized there were things about this woman that even her one love didn't know. How could he defend her, when she'd lied? Or at the bare minimum hidden? And her mission?

And then, something happened. He felt true love. And he knew, right then, what he needed to say. Nothing else, to him, mattered in her life. That was the purest, and most true feeling he'd ever felt. Nothing else matter. And so, he cleared his throat, brought his attention back to the present and looked at The One. "That, leaking from your eyes, is called tears brought about by Love. It's an emotion I wouldn't expect you, Jesine and Kielik, to understand, or even remotely comprehend. That's your Father's Domain. He understands. Auya understood."

The Biqaj paused for a brief moment, his heart racing as he stared at Them. Knowing now, who they were, everything fell into place. "I can not defend who she was before she came here. I can not defend her actions, even if some were in self defense. I can not defend why she hides the truth from the one she loves. But that doesn't matter. None of that changes who she is when she walked through that rip. Auya Trueheart came here as someone who finally had the courage to fight for others. She finally was able to get passed all her dark pasts, of which I'm most certain, Tio will lay out in front of all here, but that has no bearing on what she did for us. We fight now, for all of Idalos. To break that which was broken. She sacrificed herself, for us. She gave herself willing, because she loved. That Love that you felt? That emotion? That pure warmth that caused a mortal emotion? Those tears? Auya caused those. She had enough power to illicit change in You because she loved him." Kesindir pointed to Varlum, but his gaze never faltered.

"That Love is pure. Her intentions were pure. She sacrificed herself as someone who was clean of all those things she'd done before. The death, and pain made Auya who she was when she walked into here, they shaped who she was, but they did not force her hand. That she did selflessly, and because of that, because of her Love, she deserves the chance at a True Death. Her sacrifice will give us a fighting chance, and anyone willing to lay down their life, no matter how small they feel, and make a difference? That deserves True Death. Not eternal torment. Not like this. You can hide behind not understanding what it was you felt, but you can't hide that you felt it. You understand exactly what I am saying. You know it's truth. She has earned a True Death."

[Tio Silver]

Tio listened carefully to The Judge as she explained the task he and another, Kes, had been brought into the trial for. So he was to act as one half of a balance was he? Be one end of the scales of justice? But how was he supposed to do that when he had no idea who Auya was?

That problem fixed itself in a matter of second however, for as The Judge finished speaking the knowledge of Auya's entire life just seemed to pop into his head. There was no pain, no discomforting sensation... just knowledge. He could close his eyes and picture with perfect clarity Auya's entire life story; see what she had seen and feel what she had felt up until the moment if the death! And what a life it was. There was a lot of good in her, but so much darkness as well. And he was to give voice to one of those aspects?

So be it.

Tio made to stand, but before he could something buffeted into him. It was warm and free, like summer winds across a beach, and even though it was not meant for him Tio still audibly gasped as the sensation overtook him. It was love, love in it's purest, most primal form. There was no question as to who it had come from.

Silence hung in the air as the love washed across him, and for longer still as it slowly began to trickle away. Yet it could not last forever, and Tio let out a deep sigh as the realisation of what he would have to do dawned on him. This was not going to be an enjoyable experience.

"I would like it to be said that, were these circumstances even remotely normal, I would show compassion now that I know her." He began softly. "Yet they are not. I am here to represent part of a balance, and for fair judgement to be made there must be one to condemn her, no matter how unsavoury a task it may be. There is no question as to which part I am intended for." He stood up and looked at The Judge, a hard glint forming in his eye. "I, Tio, will be the one to persecute Auya. I shall argue why she deserves her eternal torment as dust."

He folded his hands behind his back and began to pace a circle around the room. "There are three reasons why this True Path should be denied to Auya. Three things that she undeniably is which prove she is not deserving of peace. The first is that she is..."

He paused.

"A murderer. Two lives have been taken by Miss Truehearts hands, and while the second was excusable as self-defence the same cannot be said of the first: the murder of her own husband."

He began to pace again. "While living in Sirothille Auya discovered that her husband, Keeya, had killed her father after discovering that he was a spy for Ilaren and a traitor to his country. While Keeya's actions were admittedly questionable to us, we must keep in mind that he was born and raised with the teachings of Faldrun in his mind. He had been taught only how to be loyal to his country, and acted accordingly. Auya has no such excuse. She could have confronted her husband and asked for his side of the story if she'd wanted closure. She should have contacted the authorities and allowed the law to reach a verdict if she'd wanted justice. She did not. Without word or warning she chose to slit her husbands throat as they made love. She chose revenge.

His walk had brought him around in a full circle, and he stopped behind his chair and rested his hand on it's back. "The second is that she is... he looked over to the Ithecal Varlum. "A traitor. Upon their first meeting Auya told Varlum that her father and husband had died, and that she left Sirothelle to make a new start. Not a lie, but a far cry from the truth. Auya has always been a loyal servant of Faldrun. She bears his mark, sacrificed her old forge to appease him, and swore to fulfil a mission he personally tasked her with; to aid in the destruction of Rharne and the murder of Ilaren! Although she lived among the people of Rharne her goal was to betray them; her wish was to see them all dead. There are no moments where she showed any signs of questioning or disobeying her tasks. Indeed there is a strong possibility that the actions she took to become close with Varlum, although they may have resulted in genuine affection, may have been originally intended to help her acquire information to aid with this task. And even if though she did come to care there is no sign that this interfered with her task to destroy Rharne."


The hard glint in his eye faded away, and Tio returned to his seat; slumping down into it as if he were an old man. This whole experience was proving to be very tiring. "And the last, and final, reason I have is this: Auya is responsible for her own actions. She chose to sacrifice her own life. Had it been forced from her then perhaps she would not deserve eternal torment, but she made the decision to give it up herself. Kes is correct: sacrifice is a sacred, powerful thing, and that is exactly why we should not reward it. Whatever good she did in life there is no denying that Auya chose her own fate, a fate that led her to an endless torment. We must all take responsibility for the choices we make in life, and she is the one who chose to be there. Everyone must face the consequences of their decisions: that it justice."

He folded his hands together on his lap. "There is one who can confirm all that I have said to be true, and who has as much of a right to judge Auya as any of us. If he would answer then I ask that Faldrun; the god Auya served and granted his mark to, to testify that all I have said is true and to speak his thoughts on what fate his loyal servant deserves."

[Hart]

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"

extra line here
They could hear her.

They could hear her, and then they couldn't. Auya pressed against the glass, looking only at Varlum. Only at him.

And Vri looked at Hart.

Hart inclined his head.

They were no longer in the classroom, though Auya was still apart from them. She was talking to Vri. They were in seats, the Being in an armchair that was more throne than else. Hart's eyes remained on Vri. On Auya.

And then, behind the glass, all went dark.

And Hart felt Auya, just as all of them felt her.

He felt her go.

"No," he said, and reached out and grasped that feeling as if he could hold it in his hand. The Being on its throne began to cry. Varlum, and Hart had promised them, he had promised, Varlum began to cry.

"She is of my Domain," Hart whispered.

He made to look upon that feeling which he had tried to grasp. But as he did it was gone.

It was gone.

He was confused. He didn't understand.

Gone, he thought, and anger shot through him. Something like a sob caught in his chest. It held there with the anger, stuck. Tears broke and fell.

He hated this.

The two who represented Balance spoke and he hardly heard them. He looked down at his hands. He hated this. He hated his fucking hands.

He turned and looked upon the ithecal.

Hope was all he had left now. Hope for Auya to find the best outcome. Varlum prayed to Ethelynda that the outcome she got was life, that he could protect her going forward as he had vowed to do. But if it meant she had an afterlife better than the one given to her then so be it. Whatever left her happiest was all he wanted.

"It will be," Hart told him, and turned the prayer into a Wish.

He looked at the Being, and like It Hart did not blink. Tears fell and fell, and he looked at it with unwavering despair. He despised this. He despised It.

"Auya sang into the storm," he said. He was shaking with rage. He had stood up out of the chair he had been put in. "My sister Jovy, she sang to storms to calm them. Auya sang into the storm so that we might have a Door. She sang into the storm, she lit herself with fire so True it brought light and color to that dark dead land, and for us, that door was Hope."

"She said that the Truth would find us," he said. "The Truth. She was the Truth. She gave herself so that we might go on."

"Is there no greater Hope?" he asked. He was spitting the words. "Is there no greater Hope than to keep going, despite all?" He looked at Varlum, who would give everything, all of what he was, for Auya. Auya who was no longer there. Who had given herself for him, for them.

"What would we do without it?" he asked, and broke.

"What do we do without her?"

"For Auya, I would give a Wish," he said. "His Wish," he said, and indicated Varlum. "Take it," he spat at the Being.

It was Hope. Hope for Auya to find the best outcome.

"I would give a second Wish," he said. "I would give hers." He remembered it dying in his grasp, but he had felt it. They all had. It, too, had been Hope. Please, let me be the one to protect him. "And I give it still. Take it," he spat again.

He felt as if he had already begun to Fracture. It hurt. It hurt, but he didn't care.

"I speak as Hope," Hart said bitterly. "And Hope is what is Needed for all of us to go on."

"All of us," he said, and hid his face in his hands. He shook.

"All."

poem

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Emily Dickinson

OOC: Hart used his mb ability Fulfillment to try to grasp Auya's last Wish, which he failed to do other than to feel what everyone felt when she left.

He used his mb ability Fulfillment on Varlum as well, which is how he "heard" Varlum's prayer. Fulfillment reads:

Hart can sense when a nearby being is in need of help, and what it is the being needs. If pressed, he can also sense what the being wants, though this will double the severity of drawbacks he experiences. /end description

He also offered two Wishes to the Being. One Wish was Varlum's; the other was Auya's, though he wasn't able to grasp it. That Wish is thus, mostly, unspoken. Wish reads:

Hart has the ability to grant Wishes. As the mortalborn of Need, he is able to grant a being's truest, deepest Wish. This Wish is not what a being thinks they most want, but what a being most truly Needs.

By using Wish in tandem with his Fulfillment ability, Hart is able to get a grasp of a being's truest Needs-- not just what they need right now, but what they need most of all.

Each Wish is individual and needs to be approved by the PSF. Should a Wish involve one or multiple PCs, all PCs involved are to be included in the approval process. The types of Wishes Hart grants usually have to do with undoing past or current trauma or protecting from future harm. /end description

As this is a modded thread, I'm not sure if I need to put these Wishes up in the PSF. If so, I will make a ticket.

[Eliza Soule]

The One, in Eliza's humble opinion, was a real jerk. She wasn't about to say it out loud, but when the one that sat in judgment fixed its eyes on her like any disapproving elder might, the mortalborn opted not to look down or away. After all the One had instructed them each to tell no lies, and she'd spoken the truth as she saw it and believed it to be.

She fell quiet then while the others, one after another, stood up to speak. But their words, most of them, came to Eliza as if through a haze or curtain as she focused on Auya, there in the glass. Kisindir and Tio, through some method outside their control, gained insight into the life that Auya had led. Eliza on the other hand, gained that insight by different means. She called on an ability, a gift from her own father, aptly called Deju Vu. While focusing on Auya, she fell into a sort of trance, and in the space of a few trills the woman's life raced past her eyes and through her mind.

It happened so quickly that it was inevitable, many of the details were missing, motivations were mostly left to interpretation. But it was enough to confirm Eliza's belief that Auya deserved a true death if there was to be a death at all, and a chance for rebirth. Then, a blink or two later, Auya was gone. In the wake of her self-imposed trance, Eliza was left a bit weary and teary eyed. It was made all the more so by the wave of love that swept over her. That too seemed to be gone in an instant. But it all conspired to strengthen her own resolve.

They weren't placed where they'd been seated before. But it hardly mattered. Eliza's mind began to clear as still more of them spoke in favor of Auya. Then there was Tio, who seemed to play his part well. Except that in her mind, he was wrong. "That's not true," she said. "I was there. Hart was there. Auya didn't choose her fate, if that fate was a certain, known death. I was there. She didn't choose to die," she insisted, looking towards the One and then back to the others. Maybe it was only a difference in degrees, but Eliza felt strongly that the difference was an important one.

"When she insisted that we go on without her and told us that she'd catch up, she must have realized there was a chance she might die out there on her own. She made that sacrifice for myself and for Hart, for all of us. She could have chosen differently to be sure. The sacrifice that she chose was to remain behind and risk the uncertainty for herself. But she didn't choose death. It chose her. Is that justice?" she asked. But then, Auya was dead. That injustice, if it was one, was already done. "Are we here to condemn, or defend and justify the entirety of Auya's life? Or only the last defining moment of it?" Personally, she figured that Auya's husband had had it coming. It sounded more like a crime of passion than anything else.

Nevertheless. "Who here has not done something they are ashamed of? Something that they'd choose to undo, if only they could? Is there nothing in all of their lives they could do in order to rise above it?" Maybe..."Instead of discussing judgment and justice or even balance," she considered, "maybe we should be talking about mercy and redemption instead. Auya is dead. She's already paid the price for her choices, whether they were certain ones or not. Yes, maybe she has done terrible things in her past, even knowingly. But her final act was not a contrived one. She risked her life knowingly, but without choosing death. She did it, not just for Hart and myself, not just for those of who are sitting here, but for all of us. And without the expectation of a reward. Tio argues that we should not reward an act of sacrifice. I would argue that the price Auya paid for that sacrifice was death. It's already paid, and death is no reward. Instead, I'd contend that if a sacrifice made without contrivance, that may have saved countless lives in the making, isn't worthy of redemption and a chance at rebirth, then what is?"

So what would she give? "No one can know another's true heart or intentions. If I could offer anything worthwhile, I would share my father's gift with Auya. To allow her to look back on that moment in retrospect, when she made that fateful decision. Armed with the knowledge of what would happen, and the consequences of it for herself and the ones that she loved. Would she say that she'd make the same choice again, and stay behind?" Addressing the One then, Eliza added, "You told us that we should speak the truth, and you'd know if we didn't. Then surely you'd know the truth of Auya's reply? If she answers yes, in spite of it all, then isn't that cause for mercy and a chance at redemption? Is it possible that forgiveness might also be justice?"

[Pegasus]

No mortal man can win this day.....

One dream, one soul, one prize, one goal
One golden glance of what should be
(It's a kind of magic)

One shaft of light that shows the way
No mortal man can win this day

The bell that rings inside your mind
It's a challenging the doors of time
(It's a kind of magic)

The waiting seems eternity
The day will dawn of sanity

It's a kind of magic
(It's a kind of magic)

There can be only one
This rage that lasts a thousand years
Will soon be gone

This flame that burns inside of me
I'm hearing secret harmonies

The bell that rings inside your mind
Is challenging the doors of time

(It's a kind of magic)
(It's a kind of magic)
This rage that lasts a thousand years
Will soon be, will soon be
Will soon be gone

This is a kind of magic
There can only be one
This rage that lasts a thousand years
Will soon be gone (gone)

Magic, it's a kind of magic
It's a kind of magic

Magic, magic, magic, magic
Magic, ha ha ha ha it's magic
Ha ha
Yeah, yeah
It's a kind of magic

121st Ashan, 719. Midnight

Auya's Song

A free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wing
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn
and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.

They each played their part. They did it admirably, too, it must be said.

Varlum spoke and all eyes were on him, but It did not answer. Kesindir spoke and, though The One lifted it's hand to It's moist cheek in response to his words, It did not speak. Kesindir's words were met with silence. Tio's prosecution of her, his statements about her were met with no words at all. Though the words spoken till now all had consequences, they were not in the moment.

Then Hart spoke. Hart spat out his words and he gave of himself and still, The One sat and looked at him. Unmoving and unmoved. Silent as the grave. Yet, something changed in The One in that moment. As though It understood something, or, even... felt something. Not someone else's. It's own.

And then, Eliza spoke, and she too was met with silence. Yet again, there was a change. Those who had been with Auya when she died offered of their very nature.

And so, after each had spoken, there was silence. It lasted but the blink of an eye and in it a thousand lifetimes began and ended.

"The true strength of love" Vri said, standing behind the One, in a space which had been empty but a moment before. "Is how much it hurts. The depth of sorrow is matched only by the depth of love. And even the sorrow is tinged with sweetness. It is, truly, better to have loved and lost. For all that it does not feel it to be such." His gaze held Varlum's own. "I too have loved, and lost." His eyes lingered on the Ithecal.

He said no more, but his black-nailed hands rested on the shoulders of The One and then, each of them realised something. There were others in the room with them.

Unseen.

But very much felt.

"Faldrun's son" The One said to Varlum "Edasha's son and Ymiden's daughter" The One motioned to those not acting as prosecution or defence. But, rather, as Witnesses. "Three of you spoke and three of you gave. Of your parentage. Of yourselves." a tiny pause. "This is... what is this?"

It frowned.

And, standing behind his children, Vri smiled. "The true strength of love," he said. Behind Vri, then, they saw them. The three Immortals called here this trial. Faldrun, Edasha, Ymiden. Each of them almost ghost-like, not fully there. Vri, the Keeper of the Ways, Holder of the Keys, stood in front of them - there was a very real sense of holding them in place.

The air around them thrummed. The power was palpable.

Faldrun was the first. From his chest came a bright glowing, thrumming like a heartbeat. Come to think of it... exactly like a heartbeat. The glow from his chest seemed to coalesce into something almost solid as it spewed forward into Vri's hand. As it did, Faldrun looked at Varlum, briefly, and he smirked. Then, he gave Tio a more genuine smile. It possibly was not a reassuring thing as both of them felt their hearts beating in time with the thrumming beat of the flame.

And it didn't stop as Edasha stepped forward. Her ghostly form was, of course, beautiful, and she looked at her son. "So beautiful," she whispered and, as the soft glow from her eyes moved from Hart to Vri's hands, the light which glowed around her like an aura synchronised in the same heartbeat.

Ba-bump, Ba-bump.
Ba-bump.

And finally, Ymiden stepped forward. His gaze never left Eliza and, as he looked on her, he spoke. "Forgive me? I watched you, all this time. And I am so proud, my daughter." He stepped closer to Vri and put his hand on the Immortal of Death's shoulder. "So proud"

Dawn's light fell over Vri, surrounding him and then, he opened his hand.

And in it, there was a single glass snowflake. Which beat in time with the heartbeat of four Immortals and five Mortalborns.

Vri held his hand out to Varlum. Offering him the snowflake. And though he offered it to Varlum, each of them had a sense of being able to accept - or reject - whatever it was that Vri was offering in that moment. "The true strength of love" Vri said with a soft, almost sad smile. "Is that it makes all things possible."

And, in that moment, everything hung in the balance. The offer was made. But what it meant? What it meant for them, their Immortal parents, their very souls?

That was far from clear.

This rage that lasts a thousand years
Will soon be gone

This flame that burns inside of me
I'm hearing secret harmonies

Rules

Rules!? Post, damnit.

[Varlum]

Each of them spoke. Each of them told truths. Some told secrets that Varlum had yet to know, secrets of a dark past. Killing her own husband, murdering people out of spite or vengeance. Working with Faldrun to take down Rharne. All things he had never heard before, all things about the life she had led that mattered. It defined who she was as a person, at least who she had been. Auya had been an enemy to Rharne, the city that he had vowed to protect in front of the Induk of Lovalus and the Knights of Ilaren's army. Everything she stood for was everything he stood against. Every mission she had been on was one that undid progress he had worked towards.

And not a trill of it mattered.

"You're wrong" Varlum said simply, looking to Tio, no anger in his tone. "What she did for Faldrun pales compared to what the vast majority do for Ilaren, for Ethelynda, for every Immortal. For every city. Wars are fought. Wars are won by fighting. She killed two, one in self-defence and the other in vengeance - and she should be damned?" he asked before placing a hand over his good eye to leave only the one with a thick scar down it. "Then I pray to every Immortal that would listen for the hundreds of lives I took defending myself, defending my city - defending the innocents. Because what I did, whatever the motivation, does not matter. She made mistakes, or perhaps they were anything but mistakes. She made choices. Choices that benefit her. Yet she still died for others. That's more than can be said for anyone stood in this room. We are alive because of her. She is dead for us, for the world - and we stand here alive."

With his words out of the way, his eyes turned back to the One, leaving all others to speak. Whatever she did before mattered not to him. Her weakness and need for love and care was what he cared about. She had been vulnerable and hurt, in a way that couldn't be faked. It was real, blatant pain. If he could have talked to her he would have, tried to find a way for them to work on the same side, to have her leave Faldrun. He would have fought the Immortal himself if he had to do so. Whatever it took to protect her from a man like that. But even if she had refused, their love was true. If her loyalties were enough to break that then his loyalty to her was flawed and weak.

But once they had all spoke, with the One's silence remaining for what felt like Trials, the man reappeared. Vri, not that Varlum knew it. Whoever he was, however, Varlum had seen him with Auya before she died. As the Ithecal glanced to his face their eyes met, filling Varlum with a strange mesh of warmth and ice cold shivers. Perhaps it was the familiarity, perhaps it was the memory of Auya's death beside this man and what she had said. It didn't matter much. There was respect there. This man had been beside Auya as she hurt and, even with her gone, had taken her pain away by all appearances. He had done what Varlum had hoped to do for the longest time. He'd protected the woman that made Varlum's life that much brighter. 'Girl'. His girl.

Before Varlum knew what to say he felt their presence, whoever they were, before being addressed. Faldrun's son. Words he loathed to hear yet some he would grow used to. When he found out his true nature, in such a twisted way, his heart had sunk. Every heroic act he had done was swamped by a heritage he had no control over. Every positive view someone had of him felt weak and diminished by the blood of an Immortal he had fought so hard to counter. But it didn't matter, not to many. A small snarl left his words at the phrase and he glanced back to the One with a sharper look in his eyes. But Varlum had self control, enough of it. Any sign he had of anger was subtle at best, as much as he would love nothing more than to tear this room apart with the burning hate he felt inside of him. Hate for Faldrun, for bringing Auya into this, for being his father. For everything.

Yet it seemed his hatred could only grow as Faldrun appeared, among others. The Ithecal had his eyes on only the Immortal of Fire. One that had torn his life apart in more ways than one. Varlum had fought against Faldrun's forces and taken a spear to the leg. Varlum had defended innocents that were blamed for Faldrun's acts and had been thrown through a building. Varlum had been detained by his own Knights when they discovered Faldrun's blood was in him - and there he stood. It would be so easy to ruin it all, to lose his temper. To grow to twice his height, to roar and cause everyone around to feel fear. To plant an axe straight through his skull so that his life would end as fast as Auya did, with nobody to speak for him after his death.

But he wouldn't.

For Auya.

Varlum's eyes followed, even as he smirked to the Ithecal, before moving to all of the others - heart beat in tune with his own Fathers flame and Tio's heart. It was a strange sensation, but the man tried not to put any thought into it. Faldrun wasn't worth it. Not right now. Only one person mattered to him. Slowly, others moved forward. A beautiful woman made her own aura beat like the heart. Then a man who apologised to Eliza. Varlum could guess who they were from the speeches given earlier, their Immortal parents. He wondered if their parents were as shit as Faldrun had been, for just a trill, before Vri opened his hand to reveal it. The snowflake - beating like his heart. Like everything around them beat, in sync, in a perfect unison.

Then it was offered. Varlum listened to the words that were said to him, about the strength of love making all possible. What did it mean? What was the snowflake, why were so many Immortals present, what did Vri have to offer? Did it matter? Perhaps this was his only chance. Perhaps it was the only way he could save Auya. Perhaps it wasn't. So many questions and possibilities all ran through his head. Positive and negative outcomes that would change his world forever, that might change their worlds forever. That might change the world forever. All of it rested in that snowflake and if he took it. All of the possibilities dependent on the one decision he made.

But it was worth it. She was worth that risk.

"Show me its strength, then. Make it possible."

And he took it.

[Hart]

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"

extra line here
Vri appeared and spoke, and Hart brought his face from his hands and looked up at the immortal. Gone, he thought, and the rage that had been directed at the Being focused instead on Vri. If looks could kill, Hart's gaze would have silenced the immortal of Death.

Faldrun and Edasha and Ymiden appeared behind him, and Hart hardly looked at Faldrun. Edasha spoke to him in a whisper, "So beautiful," and his gaze, without meaning to, softened and became anguished. He looked away from her as if looking at her physically hurt him. His hand went to his chest.

Ymiden.

Hart had once dreamt of being marked by Ymiden. But he was no longer good for that. Hart had been involved in too much. He'd done too much harm. He had fought in the labyrinth on Edasha's behalf, and then he had been brought into the maze and Vri had marked him. Vri. Hart was half immortal and he felt deeply. By Vri, he felt that he had been slighted. He was done with Vri and he was done with the Being. He could not forgive them. He wasn't-- he wasn't good, not anymore, and he just couldn't. He couldn't forgive himself.

The gathered immortals lent Vri their strength, and Hart was a part of it. Varlum and Eliza and the Being were as well.

"The true strength of love," Vri said and he seemed sad. "Is that it makes all things possible."

And in his hand was Auya's trueheart.

Varlum took the token and as always, Hart didn't understand. He could tell that he didn't fully grasp what was happening here. He could tell that each of them needed to accept or decline whatever it was that Vri offered.

But what Vri offered, Hart didn't know.

He was so-- so tired of this.

He thought of himself putting Jesine and Kielik to sleep. He remembered the wingless man bursting into light. He remembered the mortalborn bursting into light. He remembered being thrown back. Lying crumpled on the ground. Waking, only for the wingless man to be dead.

And then the Wish, and bringing Wren back.

He thought of what he had done in the moment he had put Jesine and Kielik to sleep. He thought of the world unable to wake. He thought of the world, and the caterpillar who had said that they might start dying. All because he had acted without thinking. All because he had acted without knowing the consequences. All because he had prioritized one man --one boy-- over all else.

He thought of Wren. He thought of Wren in the dream, before all of this had started. He thought of the boy jumping and floating as if nothing weighed him down, and his little wings. He thought of him smiling.

He thought of Auya and Varlum.

Immortals damn him, he thought, and fresh tears pricked at his eyes. But he was doing it again.

"Anything," he said, and accepted the token as well.

[Kesindir]

Well, what was there to say now? Change had come. To all of them. They'd felt it to a degree. That moment of truth Love. For some, it made them weep, others it made them strong, and some ... well, they did what they did best. Partiality and all that. It had invigorated the young Biqaj. He'd stood in the face of uncertainty, a potential Death, worse than that of Auya the Dusted. He knew those consequences, and yet, he'd still done it. He'd called the Twins by their names. It was no longer The One to Kes, no quite the opposite, they were now hurt, unsure, and confused. He'd used that moment of Love to power through the fear he felt and poured his, no not his, Auya's Love out in words that she couldn't share. And They cried.

Kes saw it. The tears. The tears it had been unsure of previous, the tears that had been invoked by her Love. Then tears that had been invoked by his words. His words. A mere mortal in a room full of extraordinary people, had caused two Mortalborns to cry, to actually feel something other than the unemotional bliss they chose to exist in. The Biqaj couldn't help himself, and he smiled, knowing he'd changed Them. Just like she had changed him.

Auya, you know not who I am, but I know you. I've looked upon your life with the same scrutiny that They did, and I saw beauty. Thank you, for showing me what true love was, and thank you for saving us.

No, she probably couldn't hear him, where ever she was, but that didn't change the sentiment in his mind. He owed her, at the very least, a thank you, and at the most, to make it out of this alive, and fix what she had started and been unable to finish. Tio had spoken, just as Kesindir had expected. Against her. He understood, and he didn't hate the man for it. He simply understood. "Balance," he said quietly, hopefully enough for Tio to hear, "was needed, and you succeeded. Thank you." Those words didn't hang in the air long though, as things happened. Which kept happening here. Things just ... happening. So things did.

Then, in the room behind Them, Vri stood. Kesindir knew it was Vri, even though he'd never met the Immortal. He knew because Auya had known. He knew a lot now, because of her. Vri spoke, cryptic as ever, yet so poignant, and then They spoke, and were ...yet again confused. It was almost humbling to know that a being of such immense power - in comparison to Kes - could be so confused by ... love. Then Kesindir saw Them. The others. More Immortals, he assumed, one of which he recognized. Faldrun. The one Auya had prayed to. Sacrificed for. Bleed for. The other two he didn't recognize, but judging from the words The One had spoken, Edasha and Ymiden.

Looks were shared. Words exchanged. Immortals and their children. They each did something. Kesindir didn't understand what, for the power of Immortals was beyond his comprehension, but knew something had happened because Vri opened his hand, and in it was a simple yet beautiful snowflake. Auya's Trueheart. For the first time since entering this room, a tear fell from the Biqaj's eyes. He knew what it was. What she had done with it. What it had meant to her. "Trueheart...." he whispered softly as he felt the question. Accept, or reject, whatever it was that Vri was offering. He had done nothing but help and guide, impartially, throughout everything.

Kesindir needed to say something, before he no longer had the chance too. "Varlum..." his voice shook, more than any time he'd spoken before. He wasn't speaking for himself this time though. No. "She said ... I love you Big Guy, and I'm sorry," and with his part spoken, he accepted.

[Eliza Soule]

When it all began, Eliza had thought that in every way that mattered, the One had no soul to speak of. Or at least a bent or broken soul if they had one. Judgment was judgment. But without heart and a soul in good working order, there was, in her mind, no sense of justice. But then the One cried. It was apparently contagious. Hart cried. Varlum cried. She couldn't seem to stop crying since every time that she did, something came along to start it anew. Like Auya's sudden disappearance and Vri's return, but without her.

But something was different. Something more than the tears. Something that Eliza could feel but not identify and it appeared that others felt it as well. And then she saw them. The Immortals. She might hazard a guess as to who two of them were. But the third. The mortalborn, had never met her own father, at least not that she'd been made aware of. But somehow she recognized him all the same. He was just as she'd always imagined he'd be. Eliza blinked, fixing her eyes on him and while her cheeks were still damp with tears and unquestionably, more were on their way, she smiled. "Father," she whispered, and it was barely more than a breath.

If this had been any other time and place, Eliza would have had a thousand questions to ask her father. Questions that she'd been saving up for over two centuries now. She might get another chance some trial or she might not. But it wasn't that time or place. This one was for Auya. All the resentment that she'd ever allowed herself to build up, however, melted away in an instant. Forgive him? "I already have," she whispered, and smiled at hearing some of the words that she'd always wished that she could. And naturally there were more tears.

Like Faldrun and Edasha, Ymiden handed something to Vri. A snowflake, beautiful, pulsing with life and glowing from within. It was a mystery to her what they were doing but she felt it. It was not just the heartbeat of one, but many, including herself. They synchronized and beat as one, became one in object that Vri held in his hand. And when it was offered, and she sensed that in a way it was offered to all, how could she possibly refuse. They've come this far in defense of Auya. How could they possibly turn back now? It was inconceivable, her own father was a part of it, so naturally Eliza accepted.