FF PSL | ❝ two-toned echoes tumbling through time. ❞

[crystallinedreams]

song of hope

BOOK 3: TWO-TONED ECHOES

One brings shadow, one brings light
To this riddle all souls are tied
Brief our moments, brazen and bright
Forged in fury, tempered in iceCODE BY TESSISAMESS

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[castshislot]

[ Ardbert shrugs once more at the compliment. However, the second statement gives him pause. He glances between the pair. What a disappointment he must be for saying that there wasn't. At least, not that he had the pleasure of meeting. Perhaps someone had eyes for him, but, he was too enthralled in adventures and then too determined to stop the Ascians. There were people he was close to that he felt a form of kinship, but never someone he would say had swept him off his feet. Not in the way that Alkaid seems to be. ]

« Can't say that there was. At least, not in anyway I was ever made aware of. Suppose I might of had some fans or people who idolized me. Though, I imagine that all stopped the moment the Flood ran rampant through the world. »

[ He looks to K'thisru then. ] « What about you, then? Anyone set your heart a buzz like your sister? »

[ Alkaid moves to answer, but seemingly thinks twice about it. She knows of one person who had eyes for her sister, but well, nothing ever came from it. Instead, Alkaid looks back to her engagement ring and twists it gently. Ardbert raises an eyebrows as she smiles to herself and her tail sways just a bit more. ]

« I've met knights, but, I can't say I've seen them make a woman nearly melt on the spot. Must be nice though to have a bloke who doesn't see you as just the local adventurer errand girls. »

[elpides]

If only our paths had crossed earlier, and the circumstances been different. [ K'thisru finds herself unable to stop a wide grin from spreading across her face. ] I think between the two of us, we could have found someone to introduce to you.

[ It is, of course, mostly a tease, but she means it too. Everyone deserves to have a chance of finding the one, and in her mind, Ardbert is no exception to that. ]

Me? I- Well... [ There is someone who has lately caught her attention, but he also seems far too sophisticated and knowledgeable to ever pay her any mind. In the scene inside her mind, he sees her as someone vaguely interesting but not particularly important except as a Warrior of Light... or Darkness. ]

Aymeric really is someone special. Ishgardians as a whole are a good solid group of people, but he stands out in the crowd.

[castshislot]

« Imagine that. A set of Warriors of Light trying to find someone for each other. Almost sounds like a game we'd play over a round of drinks at a warm hearth. »

[ His gaze moves back to the reclaimed and redecorated castle at the heart of the lake. Titania's castle now, not the royal family of Votenburg. He is curious to wonder if he knew someone that was like this "Aymeric." Not that it'd matter much. ]

« "Well"? Sounds like you've got eyes for someone. Go on, then. Tell us who it is. Seems hardly fair to know about the one that's swept your sister away and not you. » [ Ardbert smirks then, hoping the joking tone comes across. ] « Aye, the people of Votenburg were the same. I told you both a bit about them before; seemingly made of hearts of ice, but, once you cracked that cold exterior? You'd never find a more welcoming and caring group of people. There were the bad eggs, of course, and the ones who weren't as pure hearted as their fellows. The royal family certainly had their share of them. »

[ He sighs, leaning back as he continues to ponder. ] « Must be more to it than the fact that he treats you like people and seems separate from his people while apart of them? What else was it, I wonder, that's left the bloody good impression on the pair of you. »

I just knew.

[ Ardbert turns his gaze back to Alkaid as she finally speaks up. The white mage keeps her gaze locked to the ring on her finger. His head tilts, and a glance is sent to K'thisru to wonder if she knows by chance what Alkaid refers to. He figures they're about to learn, but he wonders what the sisters have shared before. ]

I... just knew the moment we met him. [ Alkaid repeats and yet clarifies her statement. Her ears fold down as a deep red blush takes her cheeks. ] I thought that he couldn't have an interest in me outside of being a Warrior of Light. That he surely had a lady of noble birth that caught his eye and merely was waiting for an opportune moment to propose. But, I knew that no one else I'd meet would make me feel the same way. It took time for me to realize, b-but I loved him the moment I met him. I figured--I thought--that if I could never share my feelings, or if he could never see me the same way, then I would devote that love to the people of Ishgard and their home. Because, in the end, it made him smile... and seeing him smile made every struggle worth it.

[ Ardbert blinks, closing his mouth at whatever witty retort might of come out. He hadn't really expected Alkaid to share anything, given she rarely seems to share the personal side of things. Once more he glances at K'thisru to see if she wears the same expression he does, or if she already knew what her sister had shared. ]

« That explains why seeing Votenburg the way it does makes the pair of you so upset. Why you decided to have a picnic in the land of the fae. Homesick, I reckon. »