Darling, Don't You Know Who I Am? [Archive]

Ruby

02-14-17, 08:09 AM

Akashima, Two Years After The Formation of the People's Senate and the End of the Oni War
Autumn's End, Year of the Golden Flower

Two years was long enough to compose oneself after the loss of a loved one. At least, that is what Ruby husband had kept telling her. For a time, she hid herself in her home, reading, sleeping, and of course drinking far too much Ambrosia. Weeks turned into months all too quickly, and Leopold abandoned her to her misery. There was only so much caring and concern he could show, before it become a matter of time, not affection.

“She’ll be alright,” he said softly.

Sat opposite Lillith the merchant nursed a tankard of ale as a replacement to Ruby’s warmth and zeal. Though he had left it alone, now was the time to make a stand. If what he had planned did not shake away the sadness, then nothing would. He had been through too much with her, and the rest of the Tantalum troupe to give in without a last grand gesture.

“I expect. Do you think this will be enough?”

Lillith drank her tea, content with bergamot and an excess of sugar to warm her on a cold autumn afternoon. The tavern was mostly empty, save for the usual corner lurking dockworkers and the titan of a barkeep, Ling. As Akashiman establishments went, it was one of its seedier, more forgotten ones.

“When we first started Chronicle, her heart practically sang at the idea. Ruby was the drive behind our endeavours.” He sipped his beer and set the tankard down with a thud. “Since Luned and Otto left, it’s fallen into disrepute.” By disrepute, he meant all but disappeared.

“Having something to fight for has only ever lead to disaster for us.”

Leopold nodded. His sister was correct, but all that had gone before the troupe was at the behest of Oblivion. They were free of the Forgotten One’s strings now, and these is always more good to do in the world.

“This time will be different.”

Lillith was content enough with that, and left the matter alone. She, like Leopold, cared for Ruby more than anything, or anyone else on Althanas. Not even her fondness for Akashima, her motherland could match the bond the sisters had forged over the centuries.

“So. Remind me of the plan?”

At that, Leopold perked up. He sat upright, the first time since he had first seated an hour prior. Beneath the brim of his ludicrous hat, there was a smile, a little glimmer in the corner of his right eye. Lillith saw the confidence Leopold had abandoned after the collapse of his trading company. Even she had to smile.

“I’ve asked a likeminded individual to join us, to offer him the chance to join us and hopefully reincarnate Chronicle.” Now that he said it aloud, it seemed hair brained.

“Do I know this ‘individual’?” Lillith drained her tea and set the empty cup onto the saucer. She watched Leopold drain the tankard of the last dregs of foam and lean back in his chair with patience.

“He goes by Shinsou Vaan Osiris.”

“Ah. The Brotherhood, correct?”

Leopold nodded.

“From your tone, I can only assume you know more about him than I do?”

Lillith sighed. The tavern emptied of its other patrons, and the autumnal afternoon slowly turned to evening. Akashima continued despite her absence, but all the while, the evening’s tasks in the Senate Chambers distracted her.

“Only rumour and hearsay. He has no reach in Akashima, safe to say.”

“Good man?”

“Why are you asking me, if you’re the one to invite him here?”

Leopold took the dagger well, and despite his stomach churning, made no show to the assassin that he was, for the first time in years, nervous as all hell. He was always the person to close meetings out, not start them.

“Allies are best when they have connections of their own. If we want to serve the Orrery then what better way to do so than to make friends with potential enemies?” He cocked his head to one side, and his clockwork hat clicked and ticked as another hour passed.

“Be wary of tying too many threads together, Leopold. Simple power structures work best because they are harder to disappoint.”

“That I can agree with. Let us see what the man has to say for himself, and measure his response to our proposal.”

“Your proposal.”

Deflated, Leopold resigned himself to stepping up to the stage as a leading man again. Too long worrying about his wife, trying to revive her had caused the death of his empire and the loss of his confidence and diplomacy. If ever the phrase ‘half the man he used to be’ was pertinent, it was now.

“Okay. Fine, I’ll do the talking.” He stuck out his tongue playfully.

“That’s my brother,” she smirked.

They sat as the solitary customers of the Leaping Tiger, deciding on what to order when their guest arrived. Despite the levity of the occasion, Lillith spent half her concentration on the problem of disbanding defunct duchies. Leopold beavered away at finding a solution to his impending lack of gold coin – something that, despite his love of bourbon and guns, he would struggle to live without.