Leaves Off The Tree - 08/08 - Rae
Aug 24, 2024 17:48:13 GMT
Jaezred Vandree, Marto Copperkettle, and 1 more like this
Post by Harry on Aug 24, 2024 17:48:13 GMT
Co written with the one and only Tom M
After Keros is done checking in with Ilthuryn, he spots Rae making their way to the exit.
“Rae! Look, I know that was… bad. But can we just talk for a minute? Please?”
Rae turns to look at Keros, a mixture of exhaustion and disappointment on their face. Perhaps not directed at Keros himself, just the situation. "What needs to be said, Keros?"
Keros is similarly exhausted, but it still hurts to see the look on Rae’s face, “Look, I know I fucked up today. We did things my way and people who did not deserve it got hurt. Someone died and I am not entirely sure they deserved that… If I keep going down this road I am going to do more harm.”
They exhale deeply and pinch the bridge of their nose, then look up at Keros. “So what path are you going down next?”
“Just… listening to you.” He says quietly. “Every decision I have made on my own has been a disaster and I need to talk to someone I trust and I need to listen to them. I know that now.”
Their eyes light up briefly, an opportunity, a way in presenting itself. They take a breath to steady themselves, then walk over to Keros and rest their hand on his shoulder.
“You have to stay with me on this.” They say quietly, before opening their coat a little, revealing the Diary of Kyra Stuurm hidden within. “It can be different this time. This has always held the answers, and now I have control of the curse. You wanted to stop me doing this because of the fear of me getting hurt. But it cannot hurt me anymore. I command this power.”
Keros’ heart sinks into the pit of his stomach as Rae pulls out the diary. He takes a deep breath, “I… sure. After everything that has happened we should at least talk about it. We can book out a private room and you can tell me all about it. Okay?”
Hoping for a bit of privacy, hard to come by in Fort Ettin, Keros leads the way through to the rooftop garden. The great hall and the common room are going to be too busy and they can’t talk in the library without getting shushed.
He sits down at one of the tables with a bit of shade and just puts his face in his hands for a minute, taking a little time to process the truly awful day he’s had before getting back to it.
Rae looks at Keros for a moment, wanting to move forward to comfort him, but losing the momentum to do so and instead leaning on the rails of the garden, looking out over the land below.
“Okay. From the top. What new information do we know about Hippolyte and the Thousand Words?”
He sighs deeply. Back to work.
“The main thing we know is that they are not united in their cause. Purpose keeps secrets that were enough for Devotion to abandon them. Perhaps others would do the same. What else?”
He closes his eyes, bringing his arms into a fighting pose and trying to put himself back there. He makes a fist with his right hand. “I was holding a spear as well as the shield. The Errant Guard took both from my- her body so they presumably still have it.”
He grimaces, “We know they fought for the Vanguard. There is a connection there.” Keros opens his eyes and looks at Rae, “Stuurm was performing a ritual in a Vanguard temple from that book when I killed her. Gods that was a bad day.”
“What am I missing?”
“Do we need to have another talk with The Errant Guard? I know they’ve done a lot already but they might not have known what to specifically look for.” Rae flicks open the Diary idly while talking and looks through the pages for the notes on the ritual that Kyra performed in the temple.
Keros watches nervously as Rae leafs through the book, “Perhaps. If picking up the shield created a connection that brought Retrieval to us before… then perhaps the spear would do the same. Either I speak to Retrieval and hope they can be trusted,” he shakes his head, “Not that I showed today I am good at picking the right people to trust. Or… could you use the connection in some way? Contact more than just them?”
“Right.. You’re right, we need to do what we can to gain an audience with them, we can’t wait to hear from them. But what do we do when we meet Retrieval..”
Rae voices the thoughts aloud while leafing through the diary’s pages. They strain their eyes and yawn, finding difficulty in concentrating. They shake their head and turn the page, as their eyes scan the scrawls of Kyra Stuurm’s handwriting Rae’s eyes widen. Their gaze shoots southward, and they speak without looking at Keros.
“That’s it.. A show of power. Purpose is keeping things from them and they need to be shown that Purpose is not absolute. That they can be challenged.” They keep talking while looking out on the horizon, gesticulating with pointed fingers as they make points. “We need to convince them that their power and ours is enough to challenge Purpose. And to do that, what we need is energy. More specifically a place where the barrier between the Material and The Weave is thin enough that I can access enough energy. They used the temple for great feats of magic, Kyra’s ritual, summoning Zariel’s army.. and I think..” Their eyes go back to the diary, bright with excitement as they flip to a new page and draw a pencil from their waistcoat pocket, rapidly sketching a diagram for a runic circle, labelled with arcane calculations along the sides.
“Yes, yes! There is a point like that we can use much closer to home. It lies within The Feythorn. With my understanding of The Weave I can draw on greater energy from that point and use it to demonstrate my capabilities to them. They will understand that they are the ones out of their depth, and I can finally free you of them, I can shatter the false regime that they fight under and the multiverse will be rid of this false Purpose.”
Rae, please, slow down. Keros takes a calm and measured tone, "If you are saying lure Purpose into a fight and beat them? Sure. I like the sound of that actually. I am on your side here, but I let you down before by not asking for help when I thought you might need it and I would like to run this past someone who understands it a little better than me before we go ahead with it okay? Are you alright with that idea?"
Rae blinks a couple of times, reeling themselves back. They look up at Keros and laugh a little nervously.
“Right. Of course.” They look at the book for a long moment before closing and putting it away. “This ritual circle needs to go through a few drafts before it’s ready anyway.. More work to be done. We need to do it right, it cannot be rushed. But you can.. Run this idea by the others? Would bringing them make you feel better?”
Keros freezes before opening his mouth to speak and then shutting it again. "I... yes. That would make me feel much better. Thank you." He stumbles over his words, visibly having to shift gear to say them.
“Good. Then starting tomorrow we can make preparations. I will continue with the magic, you talk to our friends.” Rae looks to gather their things and make to leave. They pause and look at Keros. “I told you before. Everything I’ve been working towards has been to save you. You should be able to.. Feel comfortable in the plan that will save you. You have given enough.”
I understand that. I appreciate that. It has just been a long time since I could say something like that to you and... and you could hear me. He smiles wearily, but it soon gives way to a pained expression. "Look, I do not know when we are going to speak again so I am going to say it now: you have already done so much and I am so very sorry for everything that has happened to you as a result of trying to help me. You need to know that no matter what, I will be there to make this right."
He speaks softly, looking down sadly as he does, "And I need you to know as well, that when I gave you that ultimatum it was because I could not picture the world in which you walked away from me. I thought at that moment I was saving you. I never wanted… this.” (edited)
Rae stops for a long moment, their hand instinctively reaching for the diary just to ground themselves upon it. They glance at Keros before averting their gaze again.
“I’ve never made it easy for you. This work has changed me, it’s true. But every time I’ve chosen this.. The ring. This diary. It has been in the interest of saving you. Every time. Consider this next act my apology for all the ways I have hurt you. It will all finally have meant something.” Rae turns their head to look at Keros before speaking one more time, clearing their throat and holding their head high.
“I would tear a hole in the multiverse to save you, Keros. And I will. Because I know it can be done, and I am the only one that can do it.” They swallow hard before leaving the garden and Keros behind.
Keros watches Rae walk to the stairs, every instinct in his body straining at him to go after them, to talk sense into them, to beg them to stop, but he steels his resolve.
“And I will save you even if it means you never forgive me for it.” He says quietly to himself as they disappear.
“Rae! Look, I know that was… bad. But can we just talk for a minute? Please?”
Rae turns to look at Keros, a mixture of exhaustion and disappointment on their face. Perhaps not directed at Keros himself, just the situation. "What needs to be said, Keros?"
Keros is similarly exhausted, but it still hurts to see the look on Rae’s face, “Look, I know I fucked up today. We did things my way and people who did not deserve it got hurt. Someone died and I am not entirely sure they deserved that… If I keep going down this road I am going to do more harm.”
They exhale deeply and pinch the bridge of their nose, then look up at Keros. “So what path are you going down next?”
“Just… listening to you.” He says quietly. “Every decision I have made on my own has been a disaster and I need to talk to someone I trust and I need to listen to them. I know that now.”
Their eyes light up briefly, an opportunity, a way in presenting itself. They take a breath to steady themselves, then walk over to Keros and rest their hand on his shoulder.
“You have to stay with me on this.” They say quietly, before opening their coat a little, revealing the Diary of Kyra Stuurm hidden within. “It can be different this time. This has always held the answers, and now I have control of the curse. You wanted to stop me doing this because of the fear of me getting hurt. But it cannot hurt me anymore. I command this power.”
Keros’ heart sinks into the pit of his stomach as Rae pulls out the diary. He takes a deep breath, “I… sure. After everything that has happened we should at least talk about it. We can book out a private room and you can tell me all about it. Okay?”
Hoping for a bit of privacy, hard to come by in Fort Ettin, Keros leads the way through to the rooftop garden. The great hall and the common room are going to be too busy and they can’t talk in the library without getting shushed.
He sits down at one of the tables with a bit of shade and just puts his face in his hands for a minute, taking a little time to process the truly awful day he’s had before getting back to it.
Rae looks at Keros for a moment, wanting to move forward to comfort him, but losing the momentum to do so and instead leaning on the rails of the garden, looking out over the land below.
“Okay. From the top. What new information do we know about Hippolyte and the Thousand Words?”
He sighs deeply. Back to work.
“The main thing we know is that they are not united in their cause. Purpose keeps secrets that were enough for Devotion to abandon them. Perhaps others would do the same. What else?”
He closes his eyes, bringing his arms into a fighting pose and trying to put himself back there. He makes a fist with his right hand. “I was holding a spear as well as the shield. The Errant Guard took both from my- her body so they presumably still have it.”
He grimaces, “We know they fought for the Vanguard. There is a connection there.” Keros opens his eyes and looks at Rae, “Stuurm was performing a ritual in a Vanguard temple from that book when I killed her. Gods that was a bad day.”
“What am I missing?”
“Do we need to have another talk with The Errant Guard? I know they’ve done a lot already but they might not have known what to specifically look for.” Rae flicks open the Diary idly while talking and looks through the pages for the notes on the ritual that Kyra performed in the temple.
Keros watches nervously as Rae leafs through the book, “Perhaps. If picking up the shield created a connection that brought Retrieval to us before… then perhaps the spear would do the same. Either I speak to Retrieval and hope they can be trusted,” he shakes his head, “Not that I showed today I am good at picking the right people to trust. Or… could you use the connection in some way? Contact more than just them?”
“Right.. You’re right, we need to do what we can to gain an audience with them, we can’t wait to hear from them. But what do we do when we meet Retrieval..”
Rae voices the thoughts aloud while leafing through the diary’s pages. They strain their eyes and yawn, finding difficulty in concentrating. They shake their head and turn the page, as their eyes scan the scrawls of Kyra Stuurm’s handwriting Rae’s eyes widen. Their gaze shoots southward, and they speak without looking at Keros.
“That’s it.. A show of power. Purpose is keeping things from them and they need to be shown that Purpose is not absolute. That they can be challenged.” They keep talking while looking out on the horizon, gesticulating with pointed fingers as they make points. “We need to convince them that their power and ours is enough to challenge Purpose. And to do that, what we need is energy. More specifically a place where the barrier between the Material and The Weave is thin enough that I can access enough energy. They used the temple for great feats of magic, Kyra’s ritual, summoning Zariel’s army.. and I think..” Their eyes go back to the diary, bright with excitement as they flip to a new page and draw a pencil from their waistcoat pocket, rapidly sketching a diagram for a runic circle, labelled with arcane calculations along the sides.
“Yes, yes! There is a point like that we can use much closer to home. It lies within The Feythorn. With my understanding of The Weave I can draw on greater energy from that point and use it to demonstrate my capabilities to them. They will understand that they are the ones out of their depth, and I can finally free you of them, I can shatter the false regime that they fight under and the multiverse will be rid of this false Purpose.”
Rae, please, slow down. Keros takes a calm and measured tone, "If you are saying lure Purpose into a fight and beat them? Sure. I like the sound of that actually. I am on your side here, but I let you down before by not asking for help when I thought you might need it and I would like to run this past someone who understands it a little better than me before we go ahead with it okay? Are you alright with that idea?"
Rae blinks a couple of times, reeling themselves back. They look up at Keros and laugh a little nervously.
“Right. Of course.” They look at the book for a long moment before closing and putting it away. “This ritual circle needs to go through a few drafts before it’s ready anyway.. More work to be done. We need to do it right, it cannot be rushed. But you can.. Run this idea by the others? Would bringing them make you feel better?”
Keros freezes before opening his mouth to speak and then shutting it again. "I... yes. That would make me feel much better. Thank you." He stumbles over his words, visibly having to shift gear to say them.
“Good. Then starting tomorrow we can make preparations. I will continue with the magic, you talk to our friends.” Rae looks to gather their things and make to leave. They pause and look at Keros. “I told you before. Everything I’ve been working towards has been to save you. You should be able to.. Feel comfortable in the plan that will save you. You have given enough.”
I understand that. I appreciate that. It has just been a long time since I could say something like that to you and... and you could hear me. He smiles wearily, but it soon gives way to a pained expression. "Look, I do not know when we are going to speak again so I am going to say it now: you have already done so much and I am so very sorry for everything that has happened to you as a result of trying to help me. You need to know that no matter what, I will be there to make this right."
He speaks softly, looking down sadly as he does, "And I need you to know as well, that when I gave you that ultimatum it was because I could not picture the world in which you walked away from me. I thought at that moment I was saving you. I never wanted… this.” (edited)
Rae stops for a long moment, their hand instinctively reaching for the diary just to ground themselves upon it. They glance at Keros before averting their gaze again.
“I’ve never made it easy for you. This work has changed me, it’s true. But every time I’ve chosen this.. The ring. This diary. It has been in the interest of saving you. Every time. Consider this next act my apology for all the ways I have hurt you. It will all finally have meant something.” Rae turns their head to look at Keros before speaking one more time, clearing their throat and holding their head high.
“I would tear a hole in the multiverse to save you, Keros. And I will. Because I know it can be done, and I am the only one that can do it.” They swallow hard before leaving the garden and Keros behind.
Keros watches Rae walk to the stairs, every instinct in his body straining at him to go after them, to talk sense into them, to beg them to stop, but he steels his resolve.
“And I will save you even if it means you never forgive me for it.” He says quietly to himself as they disappear.
