• Solo • A Hero's Death pt i

[Faith Augustin]

40th Zi'da, 717
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She sat, her back straight and her hands folded over the swelling of her stomach. Still and unmoving as the ball of molten pain seeped its way throughout her petite form. Her silver eyes gazed into the eyes of the member of the Scalvoris military. The Element soldier was well aware that the young woman he was talking to was a very respected member of the community, known as a medic, a professor and for her charity work and so he had been quiet and respectful, even more than he would usually be. For her part, the former slave was trying just to keep herself together. Less than a full break ago, she had turned a corner, both literally and figuratively, and as her feet stepped around that bend she had seen the flames licking up into sky from that place. The building where Aeon had died. Aeon, her friend who she had met in Saun last arc. His scars had been fresh, she recalled, and she'd offered him some of the salve Tristan allowed her to buy to ease the burning, searing pain of her fresh Venora brand.

No, she couldn't go there right now, couldn't do that right now. So, she pushed the memory into her hands and looked at the guard who was taking notes.


"His name is Noth. He lives in Etzos, I don't know more than that in terms of precise location." Faith said. "I am aware that he knows some people, and their names, but they are not relevant to this conversation. He calls himself the Prince of Eternal Mercies, it is a self-styled title." The man wrote down what she said, nodding his head and asking further details. She described Noth in as much detail as she could, the single wing, his manner of speaking, all of it. "Thank you," the man said, kindly. "You can go home if you wish it. We'll have one of the boys escort you."

Faith looked at him in some surprise. "Home? I will be doing no such thing. That baby, I need to take care of him. Also, I will take care of any of the bodies unclaimed from the fire." The man looked at her in surprise and seemed about to say something. Faith spoke, before he did. "The man he murdered, Aeon." She had told him about the whole thing, it was all in his notes. "He was my... he was my friend. I will put it right, as much as I can." It wasn't right, it would never be right. But it was what it was. On their first meeting she had asked Aeon to let her help him because it was a rare thing for her to be able to do, to help someone.

He was her friend and he was dead. This was the last thing she could do for him and so, she would.

"I can... yes, of course." He seemed about to argue with her, maybe point out that she was in shock, she was pregnant, she was short. Faith neither knew nor cared and the gaze she turned on to the Element was more than determined. It was unshakable. "We assumed that you wouldn't want the child." He explained, and glanced over to a room where there were currently a number of panic-stricken officers arguing about what to do. Faith shook her head. "Bring him to me. I will take responsibility for him." She breathed in and nodded. "Then, any bodies unclaimed.. how many are there?" The man looked at her and smiled, rather sadly. "Just two. The woman who we think is his mother and one... well, it's very burned up, very charred." Faith nodded. "That's him." She described where Aeon was standing and the Element nodded.

"Send them to the Glass Temple. I'll sort it with Stan." Faith and Stan, the Tunawa who was in charge of the Glass Temple, were friends. He would understand. "I will. But.. there isn't much left." Everything she did right now, Faith considered, seemed like it took effort. Things which were normally simply automatic took thought. So, remembering that she should, Faith lifted her lips into a smile and nodded. "I've worked as an undertaker for a long time. Please, just do as I ask. And bring me the baby."

They did as she asked because, somehow, it wasn't a request at all.

[Faith Augustin]

Two breaks later....

"No, I'm fine, thank you." She had to wonder whether she would feel anything again, her emotions were largely gone. That wasn't true, of course and she knew it. But for the moment, her mind was reacting the best way it knew how - by shutting down. It was good, she was sure, because she hadn't got time or inclination to let all those feelings in right now. The disciplined young woman was too busy to be anything except busy.

So, she was sitting in the office in Luna's Dream, holding a baby in her arms. She'd been home, spoken with Padraig and told him what she was doing ~ and why she was doing it. He'd wanted to come with her, but there was no point, she said. He wanted to, her worried about her she knew, but he had classes to teach and she was fine. She promised him that they'd spend the evening together and that hadn't exactly appeased him, but it had meant that he'd gone to his classes.

Gently rocking the baby, Faith looked down at him and smiled, then looked up as Felicia spoke. "Say that again, Faith?" The manageress of the orphanage was clarifying, because Faith was making an unusual request, which seemed to not be a request at all. "I want to make sure that he goes to the right people. I'll know when I see them." Felicia nodded her head. They had records she said, of people who were wanting a baby, and she was more than happy to go through them with Faith. After all, at the end of the trial it was Faith, or the business Faith ran, which paid and funded this place, so Felicia raised her eyebrows in question. "There are specifics. Things that I know are right."

Felicia got a quill, and started making notes.

"Faith, listen to me.. you were there, and you did your best, so there is no reason to feel guilty nor to be sorry for anything. Actually, I should be the one apologizing.. it was because of my inability to stop..the monster.. that so many died.."

She heard his voice. All those trials ago, in Saun last arc when she tried to explain to him the knot of guilt she had felt at the civil war, at the battle and her inability to stop it, to save them. It was the first time they met, the two of them, and she had appreciated his honest and yet unbothered way of dealing with her slavery, and he the same of how she dealt with his scars. What had he looked like without the scars, Faith wondered. She would never know, although she had harbored hoped of healing him somehow. Moseke had done it for her, after all.

"The couple should be infertile, unable to have children," she wanted to bring a miracle to a couple, hope to the hopeless as Aeon had done. And it was a strange apology for the time he had been teaching her and Padraig to use their swords and told her to use all her skill to try and kill him. She'd kicked him between the legs and he'd gone a most unusual shade. He'd chuckle at the irony, she knew.

If he was alive. But he wasn't, because a monster killed him and she had been unable to stop the monster.

[Faith Augustin]

Still in the orphanage...

"So you want it to be a couple, then?" Felicia asked and Faith nodded, very sure of that. He would want that. A couple, people who were united.

When she was first freed, Aeon was one of the first people she'd told, the very trial after. They'd sat in a small cafe in Andaris, the pair of them, drinking tea and eating cakes, and he told her that she had to be careful. He told her that they had to stick together. They just had to call, one for the other and they would be there. They'd agreed that, sitting there in the cafe and yet, she'd knelt helplessly on the floor and watched him die. He had stepped forward and helped a slave who was struggling with bags, he had stood and been her friend when she had nothing to give back, he had warned her and helped her and all she could do was look him in the eye and hurt as he fell backwards into the flames which devoured him.

"By your assessment, they need to be a strong couple, truly together. Good communicators, that's important." He wouldn't tell her, she remembered, that time in the cafe. He wouldn't tell her what was wrong and she hadn't pushed. Damnit, she'd been so wrapped up in being newly free that she hadn't pushed. But she should have. She should have. He didn't want her to, he'd told her that he'd tell her, one trial. Except now that trial would never come. When he had accepted the echo scroll, though, that had been good and it meant that he had been able to contact her.

"Education should be important to them, but really morality is the key. This child, he needs to be brought up in a family of strong morals." He had been worried about her, Faith remembered. He'd written to her and they met in the library. Zi'da last arc. When he had an arc to live, an arc in which she would get married, get pregnant, have a job and a life and Aeon? He would die alone and afraid and saving someone's life. Her heart was pounding so loudly that she felt like she might see the pulse in her wrist when she looked down at her hand. She didn't, but surely the heart which pumped the blood around was moving at such a rate that she should be able to see it. She could hear it.

Felicia nodded her head. "Is there anything else?" Faith looked up from the babe she was fussing and her eyes showed her emotions, as she spoke. "I'll pay two hundred gold nel into a bank account for him, every season, until he comes of age. I don't want him to want for anything, and to know where it comes from." Felicia frowned and spoke, obviously a little nervously. "I think I know of a couple who would be perfect. But, Faith, they aren't able to afford a child. They've pulled out of the application, because of the money." Faith looked at Felicia and spoke two words. "Tell me."

[Faith Augustin]

Five trials later..

Felicia had told her, then Faith had read the records and she had to agree. On parchment, they seemed to be the perfect couple. But that wasn't good enough for her. If Felicia was surprised when Faith said she had to meet them, she didn't seem it. So, meet them she had. Padraig was worried about her, Faith knew. With everything, he wanted her to be at home, to rest, to grieve. But she couldn't, not yet. She couldn't grieve until she'd done everything she had to for him, for her friend. Throughout the five trials, she had prayed as much as she always did, and more. To Vri, that Aeon should rest well, should know that she loved him and would remember him, always. That though her love for him hurt, she would always, always be grateful that she had told him, in the library in Andaris, that he was her brother. In her heart, he was what a brother would be and now that he was gone, she just had to try and make sure that she did the best for him and by him.

So, she'd met the couple. In the Order of the Adunih, rather than the orphanage, where they could talk and the other cloaks were busy fussing over the boy. The couple who were lovely. Friendly, down to earth, hart working. Perfect. When Felicia told them that there was a baby, that they might be able to be considered for adopting him, the young woman had cried ~ as Felicia explained that there would be a stipend, as she called it, of 200gn a season, they had both cried and clutched each others hands. He worked, a fisherman and she was a seamstress, she took in sewing and so on. They both obviously worked hard, but they couldn't have children biologically. They had no family nearby and if they were able to have this chance, well, she'd give up work, she said.

Kat and Jon, the couple were called and, as Faith had requested, Felicia introduced her as the owner of the orphanage, not anything to do with the baby. This gave Faith the chance to talk to them, ask them about such things as education, what their morality was, how they felt about lots of different things. Most importantly, Faith got a sense of them and who they were. She used, without hesitation, her "Know the Master" ability granted by Famula, concentrating carefully on them while Felicia was talking. Then, she asked about contact with the person who was donating the money, that kind of thing.

Fundamentally, she had to agree. They were perfect. So, she'd come to the orphanage this morning, just to give over a few things that she'd quickly stitched and knitted for the baby. Also, there was a small box, containing a gift for the parents. "It's from me. My contact details are in there, the money will go into the bank account every season." Kat, the baby's new mother, had said that she would try not to touch it, if she could help it, but that he wouldn't go without and she'd rather spend it on him, a philosophy Faith quite agreed with. Felicia would tell them that the money in the box was from her, and that the money each season wold be, too. It was the difference between them being able to have a child or not and Faith hoped and prayed to Vri for love and Moseke as the mother and to Famula for all the souls involved that she had made the right choice. But with a deep, heavy sadness which made her heart ache, she kissed the infant.

Aeon would, she thought, be pleased.

Off Topic

500gn in the box - deducted from ledger.
Wool and fabric already bought deducted from ledger - in the five days Faith will have knitted / crocheted / sewn some clothes, blankets, jackets etc.

[Whisper]

Faith

Awarded Points

10
These points can/cannot be spent in magic

Awarded Knowledge

Business Management: Morality Over Profit
Investigation: Keep Your Identity Secret to Ensure Honesty
Investigation: Making Sure a Family are what They Seem to Be
Investigation: Use Your Immortal Granted Ability to Clarify

Awarded Extras

Loot & Losses	Injuries
*loot deducted from ledger	None
Fame	Devotion
+15: Arranging an Adoption	None
+20: Big Donation
+5: Making Clothing

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Comments

I kind of wish Faith was my mum.. or aunt.. or grandmother.. or something. I just want her to look after me, she is such a kind, good, selfless spirit who had too much love. Immortals damn anyone who tries to hurt her.

If you have any questions, comments or criticism about your review, feel free to send me a PM and we can discuss it.
Thank ye.