echoes of truth | ❝ tales of loss and fire and flame. ❞

[dragonssung]

song of hope

BOOK 3.5: EVER HEAVENSWARD

Tales of loss and fire and faith
Every word on our hearts engraved
In the dark you will not stray
Forge ahead, till the end, we prayCODE BY TESSISAMESS

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[dragonssung]

[ A smirk finds its way on his face at the annoyance in her tone. He will not say it, but he has missed their banter. The barbs with Aymeric and with Alphinaud are certainly that of family, but, there was a difference with the barbs thrown with Ysayle. They had not always been kind or meant to be simply barbs at one point. However, from his point of view, they had become more of an understanding nature. Friendly, even. As friendly as Estinien ever seems to be at the least. ]

You sought to bring peace. I sought to find a way to bring an end to the being that caused my pain and anger. A being, in the end, who was not different than I. [ Estinien shifts the lance fashioned in the essence of his old foe. One whom he shared a mind with. ] War has once again come to Ishgard. This time is not the fault of the Dravanians or the people of Ishgard herself.

[ His gaze catches her hand reaching out to him. He stills automatically, ice-steel eyes raising to the visage of the woman who ought to have passed proper to the aetheric sea. One who, he feels, has had far more in common with Alphinaud and Aymeric than he. ]

King Thordan and presumably his knights have returned to Ishgard. We've naught an idea of how many there are that remain from being tempered. It would seem the fear we had of the Archbishop are coming to pass. [ He pulls his gaze from her to look forward into the ocean once more. ] The Scions found a way to bloody cure tempering. A cure they administered to the man you knew as the Lord Commander of Ishgard. It remains to be seen how much of himself remains afterwards.

[ Then, he pauses. ]

For her sake, and the sake of her sister, I find myself hoping he will once again be himself.

[ Estinien sighs then. He would find it strange to open up to Ysayle in such a way, yet, they had numerous theological discussions before hand. To speak of events of a factorial manner is hardly strange in his mind. He had already resolved that he may once need to put his brother to the lance, or Aymeric put him to the sword. He remains resolved to keep that promise if he must. ]

[justanothersinner]

[ There is a part of her that has missed the banter that she and Estinien have engaged in. Although she certainly felt exasperated by him at times, she also felt that she could relate to him more than she could with others. They might well be prickly and often argumentative, but she found their conversations... stimulating, for lack of a better word. ]

And would that not have brought you peace when you finally achieved your goal? I am all too aware that violence has accompanied us along our respective paths.

[ She tilts her head to one side while pondering that revelation. ] So war has once again descended upon Ishgardian lands. Or could it be that it never truly left? Was it forming and growing beneath the surface waiting for the right moment to show itself?

[ With her other hand, she presses a finger against her lips while she mulls this over. ]

King Thordan has returned... Even I could not have predicted such a turn of events. And Ser Aymeric...?

[ Her expression sobers then; she may not have seen eye to eye with the then Lord Commander, having found him far too naive and full of ideals. And yet, it did not escape her notice that he truly was, and is, a good man: a good man who did not deserve the fate that evidently befell him. ]

For what little good it will do, I sincerely hope that he recovers and is himself once more.

[ But Aymeric is not the only one who should be worried after. She wonders who cares for Estinien; surely he insists that he can care for himself, but everyone needs care from time to time. ]

And how do you fare while all this is happening? I imagine that if you were truly well you would not be out here alone.

[ But he seems to welcome being alone, so perhaps that is not so strange. Still, she believes something must be troubling him, if only he will tell her what it is. Worries for his friend, no doubt, but she would rather hear the words from him. ]

[dragonssung]

Hm. I wonder. Truthfully, I had not expected to live through any encounter with Nidhogg. Peace was to be found in the grave with those that perished before me. At the time, I thought there naught else to life other than achieving the end of the war. However, a group of misfits sought to change my mind. [ He spares a glance in her direction as if to say that she was among that small group. ] Perhaps this war could have taken a different theater had it not resulted in a summoning.

[ Estinien's gaze turns to something vulnerable at the conclusion of Aymeric. He is, in many ways, truly his brother. A brother he can do naught to help but offer aether to a pig in order to hopefully cure his tempering. One that he is willing to put an end to if they cannot save him, but finds himself hoping against hope that he does not need to. Aymeric had put hope and faith into the seemingly pointless task that Estinien might be saved, and thus Estinien must put the same faith towards his brother. ]

He is with the woman who loves him more than anything else on this star.

[ As one must be blind not to see how much the two love one another. He had always known Alkaid was taken by Aymeric, and that Aymeric too was taken by her, but he did not expect the level of devotion and love from the pair of them. It is almost a foreign notion to him--the idea of loving one so much. He would think it a fairytale if he did not see it with his own eyes. ]

I have placed my faith in those that my save my brother, and there is naught else that I can do. If they cannot save him, then it falls to me to put an end to his suffering. A pact we made long ago when the greatest fear was being forced to drink dragon's blood by the more fanatics of your faith. [ He chooses his words carefully as he knows that not all thought as Ysayle and she did not think as all of those in her ilk did. ] Standing by the door waiting to see the results of their magic will not do anyone of them better. We will wait to see if this cure truly has cured him or if it is temporary.

[justanothersinner]

[ Ysayle tilts her head to one side as she attempts to process everything he has said. It makes sense to her that he had not expected to survive his dealings with Nidhogg, even if she has not been privy to his thoughts before now. And even now, she really is not, nor would she ask to be let in in such an intimate way. At the very least, she can relate to such feelings, as a part of her thought she might not survive in her endeavors as well.

And at the end of it all, she did not, but it was a choice that she made and did not regret in any way. ]

I suppose I am in no position to ask, but do you wish that things had turned out differently? [ She will not ask in so many words if he wished that he had not survived, because again, that is not her place, and yet she imagines he will discern her meaning regardless. ]

I see. That is a good thing, is it not? [ She is not inclined to think of herself, not now, because it hardly matters, but she wonders if things might have been different had she known someone like that. She had known Estinien, at least to an extent, but at the time, there was no room for such dalliances. Or at least, no room for anything of the long-term sort. ]

Such are the choices of those who fight. To make the hard decisions is, unfortunately, unavoidable. Someone always has to make those decisions and even carry them out, if others are unable or unwilling to.

[ She still considers herself one of those people even now. And at his mention of being forced to drink dragon's blood, a shadow crosses her face. ]

It matters little and will not change what has happened, but I never intended for such things to occur. [ Her face falls for a moment as her thoughts go to those whose lives were torn apart by those fanatics who went to such extremes. She may not have personally condoned such actions but neither did she do very much to cause them to cease. And that, she feels, is one more mistake... one more sin that she has committed. ]

If you do not mind- I would remain with you for as long as I am able.

[ Her chance to connect with him on a physical level has passed, but she sees no reason why she cannot do so on a more spiritual one. If he refuses, she will leave, of course. ]

[dragonssung]

... Nay. This, perhaps, was the best outcome for all parties. Including that of Ishgard as a whole. [ It is simply hard to grasp some days that this is indeed the reality he finds himself in. It was an impossible dream merely a handful of years ago in all aspects: The Dragonsong War ending, a new path for Ishgard, Aymeric to be wed. All of it possible simply because of a pair of sisters. ] It would seem the sisters are a pair of miracle workers.

[ A low hum comes from him. ] Tis good for Aymeric, yes.

[ He has many thoughts on the matter, but will not burden a bloody ghost with them. ]

There are those who will take the best of intentions and twist them into their own wills. You cannot be held accountable for what every one of your ilk did. Although, I am certain most would say you have made up for it with your heroism, Ysayle.

[ Estinien then shrugs at her request. A vague gesture is made to the ground beside him, but nothing more is given beyond that. He is not the kindest man in the world, but he is also not one to be seen as cruel or dismissive. Ysayle surely would understand his gestures. ]

[justanothersinner]

You speak with resolve, at any rate, so I am inclined to believe you. You would know better than I, certainly. [ Ysayle's thoughts and knowledge are limited to what she saw and experienced before her death, and so everything else that followed is more or less a mystery to her. ] It would seem that they are. I must admit that I did not know what to make of them at first, and-

[ She shakes her head. Now is not the time for her confessions. The time for that has long since passed. ]

Then I will remain hopeful that whatever happens continues to be a good thing for him and for you. [ But then she laughs a dry sort of laugh. ]

My heroism, if that is what it can be called, came too late in so many ways. Would that I had had my eyes opened to the truth earlier.

[ Still, her lips turn up into a small smile as she settles herself down next to him. She certainly does understand his gestures, interpreting them as those belonging to a man who does not let people in so easily nor express kindness with ease. Perhaps he might not let her in even now, because what would be the point? Her time has also passed, and there might still be someone in the land of the living who could catch his attention and his heart.

At the very least, she seeks to offer him her companionship, and perhaps receive even the smallest amount of companionship in return. ]

What shall we speak of now? Or shall we simply maintain a companionable silence?

[dragonssung]

I do not think I know better. Since my recovery, I have hardly spent much time in Ishgard or Corethas. [ He instead has made peace with Dravanians, been given the armor of the ancient dragoons (that he in fact named in her honor), and been sent to the other side of the star to see to affairs for the dragons. He is a relic of a time in which Ishgard has begun to move forward from. While Aymeric may say he has a place in this Ishgard? Estinien knows that he must move forward from it all. ] None much knew what to make of the Warriors of Light, save perhaps Haurchefaunt and Aymeric. Both seemed to have their eyes full of stars for the sisters. Although, it was something different in Aymeric's eyes for one of them.

[ He shakes his head. ] Without you, Ysayle, the sisters would have not made it in time to stop the Archbishop. He took the power of Ascalan and attempted to drink in the power of primals within Asyz Lla. He became a primal of the King Thordan and his Heavens' Ward the Knights Twelve. I do not wish to think upon what would have happened if the sisters were but a moment later than they were.

[ Estinien casts a glance to see if any might be awake before looking forward once more. ] I suppose that would be your decision in the end. 'Tis you who are not resting within the aetheric sea. I would hear of what troubles your soul so that you cannot rest.