museboxings | call me out post

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call me out post

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Neria never knew a time when their nations were not at war.

Books and historians could not agree on the reason for bloodshed, only that it was justified in retaliation for a great treachery. Whose, no one could say. The line of Lucis Caelum saw great kings and queens who were once conquerors, then preservers of their land as the Surana Tenebris line struck back. Like the tides against the stone, there were greater clashes and smaller skirmishes throughout history, but the Great War had gone through two generations of kings and queens now and peace was a distant, brittle memory for some.

Her father had fallen on the battlefield, slain by the last King of Lucis long before she reached her majority. Just after she'd turned eighteen, her mother died of a great sickness, a blight that had struck the land and destroyed enemy and comrade alike. It had been indiscriminate and punished all of them. War needed to end, lest they ruin what little the world had left to offer.

Six months ago, they had begun this secret correspondence. What had originally been a flippant letter of consolation on the loss of yet more of her men turned out to be genuine, an acknowledgment of their pitiful positions. It had been a slow process to come to peace negotiations, even without their advisors' inputs.

In the end, there had only ever been one chance for compromise. Their kingdoms were crumbling, stripped to the bedrock. People were dying of sickness. They could not wait any longer.

At dawn, she met Ardyn in the old cathedral that once marked the peaceful grounds of a sanctuary. Long since abandoned, the earth had come back to claim it, ivy, moss, and flowers leeching to the stonework as if to swallow it whole. The starscourge had affected this place too, eating away at the grotto not far from the structure itself, the water looking inky and luminous as the first rays of sunlight filtered through.

As promised, she came only with a small escort, which was left behind the river line. Though not visibly armed, Neria came prepared for this to be her final stand should this entire thing be one great facade, weapons sheathed in the umbral void that was hers.

She pushed open the door with one hand and closed it with the other. Her footsteps on the polished marble were soft as she came to stand beneath the broken statues of the gods.

It felt foolish to be here. But war would not end until their kingdoms were joined. Let it be now, she decided, lest her people die in vain hope of peace.

She only must wait minutes before he arrives in turn, but they are minutes that feel stretched overlong with tension and anxiety, a stillness that might as well be a thousand blades hanging from the ceiling of the old, crumbling cathedral. Punctuality was not a mere courtesy, but a requirement in times of war — to appear late to a signing, or a conclave, or a meeting, was as good as insult. And an insult that ghosted along the floor of politicians and heads of state would soon turn into corpses on the battlefield, blood sinking deep into soil.

Five minutes. It is only five minutes that she must wait, before the great wooden doors to the cathedral opened, heralding Ardyn’s arrival. His own escort had been left on a wide hill overlooking the river, where they could see the dotted figures of the Tenebrae soldiers. His bodyguard, a man with a solemn frown and standing nearly a half a foot taller than his King, advised against this foolishness. Said it smelled of the workings of a trap, that he should not travel alone from here, and allow him to be at His Majesty’s side for the rest of the trek; Ardyn waved away the idea, silencing the hushed murmurs rest that had begun to rise. He would be fine, for he did not go unarmed. They knew this to be true.

And so he arrived, cloaked in a faint smile, thin around the edges. He was dressed for travel, formal but certainly not adorned in the usual fineries of court. The soles of his boots were caked in dirt, and his footsteps echoed hollowly along the marble floor, the door behind him left slightly ajar to let sunlight in. He passed under the outstretched wings of one of the gods — a once finely-carven statue of it, at least — that was missing its head.

“My Lady,” he spoke first, voice carrying easily. He drew closer, tired eyes keen with observation. There was no tension in his shoulders, instead exiting in his jawline, the way a muscle worked within it as he strung his next words together.

“The usual courtesies go out, regarding my gratitude for the time you’ve taken to meet me here. Not to mention the lack of blades at my throat as soon as I’ve walked through the door. I think we may finally make progress today."

Those five minutes should not have held such sway over her, that she might feel the creep of anxiety up the back of her neck. In five minutes, the soldiers who escorted her could have been murdered; in five minutes, an order of attack could have been given to the warriors further beyond, who waited for a signal from the queen who was standing in a dilapidated cathedral and waiting for a man who might not arrive.

But arrive he did, and alone, as agreed.

A quiet breath left her, silenced by the sound of his echoing footfalls. Neria turned to him and canted her head just slightly, though she did not bow. "I felt steel and violence might destroy the ambiance," she said, a single eyebrow lifting. "But, by all means, if it would make you feel more comfortable, I would oblige you." Not happily, however.

Her hands were behind her back, twisted together in anxiety, though it gave the impression that she was at a soldier's rest. At length, she loosed their hold and allowed her hands to fall to her sides, if only to demonstrate she had no untoward means of harming him.

"I had thought we could draw up the document here, together, rather than the back and forth drafting of letters that would be scrutinized to the Void and back. Then, at least, no one could say it was unfair."

He had to laugh, a lilting-sounding thing, at the threat that was not-quite-a-threat. They were both well-aware of their abilities to bring forth steel at a moment’s notice, sharp edges screaming against each other in an impulsive show of heated tension. Bright eyes flaring with the cracking pressure of war, of so many lives lost to battle and disease alike, a fire that could easily become an immolation with one wrong move, one wrong word.

But Ardyn is too tired for that, his sharp edges worn down too many times by the ravages of a campaign that had no end. If he wanted to fight, he would’ve brought his soldiers with him. They still possessed that flame in their veins, stoked by unerring loyalty, a desire to die for the last King of the Lucis line. The last living legacy of their great, ailing country, all of their hopes pinned on him. They would fight until either they or their enemies were left bleeding on the floor.

The thought of more blood only exhausts Ardyn.

“I’m not dressed for battle today, as you can see. I would sadly have to turn your very generous offer down.”

Another step, two, three, and he’s reached a distance suited for proper conversation. Ardyn took a moment to view her, in the way a man might view a portrait. It was almost surreal, seeing her in person, and not imagining her as some faceless ideal behind the curling words of a letter. Alone like this, lit by light reflecting off of marble, they are but two people here to negotiate. Titles would nigh be left at the door, if not for the responsibilities they still carried between them.

“But I agree. Here, we can speak uninterrupted, by both members of the court and time itself.”

Oh, he wondered how many of his advisors were waking up in the early dawn, covered in a cold-sweat and pondering just why they feel like some great, terrible thing was happening underfoot.

“And we’re already in possession of a skeleton of an idea. The joining of bloodlines, for the sake of joining kingdoms in forcible peace. Unless you’ve grown to balk at the idea overnight?"

As Ardyn stepped closer, Neria took the moment to watch him, to perhaps truly see him for the first time. And as he pointed out, he did not come wearing armor nor did he carry a blade - even if she knew it was stowed away elsewhere, able to be drawn at a moment's notice. She tipped her head slightly in his direction. "No, you are not dressed for war, and I would be cruel to bring it to your feet now." Now, when they had the opportunity to finish what their ancestors had begun.

Tall, dressed in travel clothes, she would not have pinned him for a king. He looked human and even vulnerable, flesh and blood rather than the cold, hard stone of a Lucis king, like she had seen in statues and tapestries depicting the old line. She did not look the part, either; in leathers, hair tied back, she would be thought of more as a scout than any sort of nobility.

Here, they truly were two people trying to do something impossible. But if they could succeed--

No. There was no 'could'. They needed to, else both of their kingdoms would fall.

Neria slowly sighed, loud enough that he would hear it. "I have not discarded the idea," she told him. "Negotiating a formal peace treaty would take months if not years as we draft and re-draft appropriate measures that will ensure everyone is satisfied. If we are lucky, we will have thrones resting on the bones of the people who are sacrificing themselves for...for a legacy hardly any of them can remember."

They cared. Their hearts were beating with the fierce loyalty of the Tenebrae line, even unto foolishness.

Even if she was removing their choice in the matter by forcing the joining of their kingdoms, she was doing it out of love for her people, who could live to hate her rather than to die with a false ideal in their chests.

"Are you still...agreeable to the proposal?" she asked, and hated the hesitance in her voice.

Edited 2018-05-05 20:40 (UTC)

He could've latched onto that sigh, remarked on it, perhaps prodded a little at how it seemed less-than-enthusiastic; and in differing times, he would have. In years not overwrought with disease and continually mounting war, Ardyn could afford himself humor and the sharpness of his tongue. But now was not the time, and to point out how this burgeoning agreement between them was born out of obligation more than anything else was... obvious. Hypocritical.

All she said was correct, after all. To craft a peace treaty would take too long, both nations becoming too worn and resources running thin. The soldiers put on a brave face, military might always being the last to peter out and die, but the people -- the people were just as tired as he. He knew it, and he would do what he could to spare them. They did not need war when it was disease instead, now, that they had to focus upon.

He would be frowned upon by doing this, he knew. Some would whisper in the halls, some would decry this union if it came to pass. And yet if it gave Lucis stability, then Ardyn knew that he would have the satisfaction of not only finally bringing respite to his nation, but also quieting those conspiratorial voices, cleanly severing them at their roots.

"I am," he said, in the tone of voice that implied he had made up his mind about the matter long before now. "It is the fastest way to end this war, as you said."

His fingers flexed slightly at his side, an automatic tell of slight anxiety that he could never quell over the years.

"It shall come to an end with a singular announcement of this... union, before it even formally takes place. My people will not know what to do with themselves, having been in conflict with yours for so long, but I know that they need this. My country needs this. And so does yours. We both play like we have a choice in the matter, but I can see it in your eyes, too. You know that we do not."

"Even inaction is a choice," she said softly, looking past Ardyn to the statues for but a moment. "We could choose to see this war to its bitter, bloody end. We could waste time drawing up treaty after treaty. One of us could surrender." At that, her gaze flicked to him, sharp as a blade. But even that fell away, replaced with something akin to fatigue. She shook her head. "But we are here because we have chosen already. We have chosen to live - and to keep our people alive as long as possible. To that end...you are right. There is only one option."

They would force both sides to a standstill by uniting them beneath one banner. It would not be a delicate or peaceful transition but it would, at least, greatly limit the number of lives lost. They had a greater threat to address, after all.

Neria turned her gaze on Ardyn once more. In increments, the tension was fading. They were of like mind in this.

"Our people are relying on us to procure their safety and happiness. They have put their lives in our hands. This is the very least that we can do." It was a sacrifice, to be certain. They were giving up their kingdoms, their rights, their autonomy. They were giving up their own personal happiness for this.

Idly, she wondered if Ardyn had a lover back home, someone he had promised himself for. An arranged marriage or something more, someone he wished to wed. And here he was, giving everything away. For a fleeting moment, her expression was somber. Should she ask, or would it be too disrespectful? It was clear he made his choice.

"Let us see this done."

His shoulders stiffened at the very mention of surrender, at those string of syllables that wrenched up a stubborn, instinctual defiance at the very idea. Her pointed gaze was met with the slightest upward tilt of a chin, without thinking; pride between the both of them, their nations at their backs, was not something so easily thrown away between royalty or figureheads. It was nigh ingrained within them at birth, and even when that not-quite-a-challenge fell away, it took a long exhale on his part to allow tension to ease out completely. A great tiredness filled the void it left, and he felt more worn than before.

Now was not the time for putting on airs, for the sake of pride. Standing here in traveling gear, facing Neria who looked as exhausted as he, it was obvious that they could allow that much to temporarily slip, never mind their words couched in formality and quiet consideration both.

“A sacrifice indeed. But it is a small sacrifice, given what will be gained.” A standstill that lead to unification. Two warring nations finally finding peace, and perhaps with time, even cooperation against the ailing disease that threatened to turn everything into a corpse of itself, if they did not act upon it quickly.

He hadn’t been caught in the net of an arranged marriage back in Lucis, though this was going to be as good as one, he thought to himself wryly. For the briefest moment, his mind wandered to rather domestic thoughts; would she remain with him in the Citadel? Who would be left to tend to matters within Tenebrae itself? Quite poignantly, he was aware of the expectations of a union to a Lucis King, most notably the last of his line. There would be pressures from all sides to produce heirs, and by the gods, what a thought, for this woman had been an enemy of his for so long—

Ardyn cast his gaze upwards at the nearby headless statue of a god, its wings outstretched. He set his jaw, then looked at Neria again.

“Then you may consider it done, if you’ll accept my decidedly unromantic marriage proposal as we speak?”

More of a business transaction than anything else.

A small sacrifice. The words hung heavily in the air between them. At length, Neria offered a single, grim nod. He was not wrong. She had told her people she would give anything to see the war end. They might despise her decision and feel she had given in too easily but in this she had a small victory: Ardyn, like Neria herself, was giving everything up too. That was a victory her people could savor. The King of Lucis would bend the knee to a single person as the embodiment of Tenebrae.

The compromise was that she would bend that knee to him as well.

Neria's gaze turned briefly to the windows of painted glass, where the beginning stretches of light marked their colors. The faint light danced along the floor at their feet, coating their boots - muddy from travel and wear - and the bottom hems of their clothes in different lights. Ardyn spoke and she felt the blood rush in her head, a momentary lapse of composure as fear leaped into her throat.

What if this was a trap? The moment she gave the word, what if--

No. She needed to trust Ardyn and give him the same respect he offered her in turn. If it was to be betrayal, then she would kill him where he stood. But as it was not, and he the only one to hear her acquiescence, then the answer was simple.

"I accept," she murmured, solemn in her grace. "Will you accept mine, Ardyn?"

A binding in word if not in paper documentation. From this moment on, everything would change between them.

The moment hung still, and Ardyn thought it funny; how the history books would reflect this one, singular moment, this binding agreement between them. How the march of armies will shift and stutter and halt altogether, merely because the two of them — standing in the fractured light of colored glass — are here now, exchanging words and promises with each other in a crumbling, nigh forgotten cathedral.

Beyond that thought were also the jagged claws of caution cutting through the consideration. The similar inkling that ran through his own mind, debating just how to approach, which stance to take, which weapon would be better suited to defend himself, if this were a trap. Which route best suited to escape, if need be.

But her tone of voice, everything leading up to this point, made him believe that no such treachery would come to pass. In exhausted commiseration comes some laughable semblance of trust, and Ardyn indulged himself in it. He hoped against hope, and he knew she did, too.

“Yes, I accept.”

Three words, meaning so much. Hopefully they would not be futile ones.

“There will be a bevy of arrangements to be made, now.” An understatement if one was ever spoken; just the threat of thinking about it made his head spin, and so he merely kept his gaze focused on her face. “Let us draw up as many as we can in our minds while we’re here, else we shall be bombarded by needless bureaucracy when we return.”

Three words. Just like that, everything changed.

A breath left her, an exhale that might have been one of relief if she allowed herself to feel such a thing. For now, the promise for hope was weighted down by everything else: by the sacrifice they were both making, the responsibility to see this through, and the added complications they would now face from both sides. Reparations, compensation... Too much to hope to compromise in such a short amount of time. They would need to see two kingdoms divided become one without sacrificing their loyalties and identities. It was already giving her a headache.

But this was a first step in the right direction.

Neria reached into her belt, telegraphing her movements so he would see her pull the paper and pen from her belongings. She circled once, unsure of where to go, and them climbed up the few short steps to the altar where she began to hastily write in flowing script. For a few moments, her back was to him, a single concession. A measure of trust.

"Neither Lucis nor Tenebrae can afford to look weak. Both kingdoms will need our undivided attention as the days and weeks wear on, even after a ceasefire has been called." She would need to see to affairs in her kingdom and he in his until... Until some sort of better understanding was made between their people. That they were no longer two kingdoms but one, capable of unification and all the stronger for it. "We will need to decide on a single statement to present to the people on both sides to ensure the immediate halt to further fighting. The message should be identical, that no one should believe they are being unfairly treated. We can tell them we are entering into peace agreements and set up times to meet and continue to draft what we can..." Here, she trailed off, and turned back to Ardyn slowly. "Unless... Unless you wished to break the news more plainly and immediately and--" Her expression soured somewhat. "And deal with the outrage that will follow." Advisors who would be screaming. People who would call them traitors. She could imagine her parents turning over in their graves at the very notion of what they were proposing. What they had already done.

Leaning back against the altar somewhat, she sighed. "How do you want to proceed with this?"

[Dun Scaith is a desolate place, all know. the land of the dead, the land where souls go and do not return. if they're mortal, anyway. breaking the rules and changing them was an irresistible challenge to any magus, and he was not immune. but more than that, you could say it was whim, an utter fancy and an expenditure of power that served only curiosity. the chain on his soul stretched so far, if he forged each link himself, far enough to send his spirit on the wind to places that he really shouldn't be in. always tethered back to that tower, but a dream of freedom could be enough, as he walked, too full of life to truly belong her.

but no one could ever say that Merlin didn't know how to be polite, when he knew it was for the better. the barren edge of a tower provided a base, and he breathed in, incantations so easy and familiar they were like a travel song on his lips. taking root on mana alone, green sprouted, bloomed - the twisting vines of nasturtiums, the tall stalks of snapdragons, the clusters of spider lilies, twining together to create something beautiful, bright, selecting the flowers that grew for reasons he didn't know. something living, in this place, stark and defiant.

the change was in the air. she'd certainly feel it.]

[ as Dun Scaith no longer exists in the outside world, it has become stagnant and unchanging. the hills are green and beautiful, as they once were in the lifetimes of her students, but they do not feel alive any longer; they, like her, are trapped in suspension, unable to wither but unable to grow. it is undisturbed by the few souls that seep through the gate, those that she drags back behind the great doors she guards.

a beautiful, old dream and little else. it is comfort and curse, that the world around her cannot be manipulated or changed any longer, even if she is the only living thing to exist here. what little she can see of the outside world is beyond her touch and beyond her wish to manipulate. fate cannot be changed.

...or can it.

as she makes her rounds, flowers begin to bloom, fed by bountiful mana that shivers through the earth around her. her steps begin to slow as she takes them in, brow furrowed, expression briefly unguarded.

with care, she reaches for one, her fingers running over the ends of the snapdragons, the tendrils of the spider lilies. red and other colors too, all bright and vibrant, and she follows their stark colors back to the source with guarded - but excited - footfalls. ]

[Merlin stands there, calm as a painting. he waits for the sounds of her arrival, of her coming nearer, before he opens his eyes. the flowers are like seed scattered on the wind - they won't last, but they can live a natural life. real and blooming, genuine things instead of a lasting illusion.

he smiles when he sees her, and gives a half bow - he is a guest, that much he knows.]

A gift for the queen of this land.

[royalty deserved presents, he would say. or he was simply showing off, or it was another inclination he indulged with no more thought than plucking a daisy. either way, there is something else alive here.]

Little Mermaid AU

Achilles the merman saves Arturia from a sinking ship and falls in love, sacrificing his voice for legs so that he can meet her as a human.

And honestly it's better this way if he can't talk.

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call me out post

ardyn, neria: bindings of fate

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scathach.

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