In between the lens and light (closed to Flamebird)

Shinsou wondered whether he was finally making the right choice. Five years had gone by since the formation of the Brotherhood, and the legacy that had been left behind had only been one of political unrest, civil war and endless feuding. Meanwhile, Corone’s economy sat in shambles. Conflict and uncertainty left potential trade partners too apprehensive to leave their fates to chance. Merchants lined the promenade from one end to the other and practically begged anyone they saw to buy from them.

The stench of death seemed to be ever present. It was almost to the point where the Telgradian wondered if it was real or, perhaps, was it just his guilt manifested and stalking him wherever he went, whispering in his ear of the destruction of Whitevale by Arius Mephisto? He tasted the warm bile on his tongue as he stifled vomit and his face contorted with disgust. There was no order to be seen anywhere as he wandered the streets outside of his home in Tylmerande. Once a thriving port town, it was fast becoming a population that scrounged and struggled to survive.

"Please friend," a bedraggled merchant gripped at his sleeve with frantic fingers. Shinsou instinctively pulled away. "Please, won't you buy some of my fine fruits? I grow them in my garden, just out of the city-"

"No, thank you," The Telgradian waved him away and peeled the vice-like fingers from his shirt. "I have somewhere to be. Perhaps another time."

A howl of discontent erupted from the merchant as he relented, hands tearing at his face. "How am I going to feed my son?" he asked the world.

Injustice. Shinsou knew her to be a cruel master, and all too well. He could only ignore the abhorrent outcries and continue along the path. He had not lied. Several days before, a letter had come from Radasanth. It was from Felicity Rhyolite. The Telgradian had responded, promising of finally continuing his training with her. It wasn’t just an empty promise this time. There needed to be revolution, change, peace, and prosperity for the people of Corone, but also for him, and especially for Felicity.

The taverns were all the business left in Tylmerande that had not fallen victim to the times. They were more alive than ever before, lit up even at the darkest hours of night and filled to the brim with patrons who wanted to forget their troubles. Depression made money for the proprietors, and they could not afford to take moral issue with it. Shinsou made plans to meet with Felicity in one of the most crowded, bustling holes in all the town.

"Mind if I trouble you for a drink?" Shinsou announced himself over the dull roar of the crowd as he pushed through the doors of the Ship Inn. The first girl to see him smiled brightly, her attire dutifully suited to the tavern's decor. Golden blonde hair framed her face and spilled over her shoulders, which accentuated the full view he received as she leaned forward to address him.

"What can I get for you, stranger?" she grinned. Her eyes were blue like the sky, and they shone brightly in the natural lighting that filtered through the windows. "The tap is a regular local ale, but we're serving Raiaeran wine that we were able to import just recently as well."

"The ale," he laughed, "wine is a bit too sophisticated for me, I'm afraid."

She pouted and pulled back a bit and rested one arm just under her breasts. She touched a finger to her lips. Shinsou deigned not to break eye contact. "Shame," she clicked her tongue, "I could get you a glass on the house to see if you like it?" she offered.

"No, no," he shook his head, "But I appreciate your generosity." Whether or not it was true, Shinsou knew full well the enchantment of Raiaeran Red. He would be penniless and incoherent before dawn if he stole even a sip.

"Suit yourself," she laughed and turned to retrieve his ale. Shinsou glanced over the crowd and then up the staircase nearby, to the agreed meeting place. He ascended to a sparsely populated area, full of tables but only two or three were populated, and sat slosest to the railing with a broad view of the busy ground floor.

It was cold. She hated the cold.

Felicity rubbed her hands together as she walked through the filthy streets of Tylmerande. Trash riddled the mud slushed streets. She sighed, struggling with the sights of poverty and despair as she passed the sight of a thin, bony prostitute trying to woo a more well off man. She hated this. She hated this world of injustice and woe. Even as a child, she felt a rage inside screaming for change. It still burned in her now.

New Brookshaven was far better off than Tylmerande. Her lover Leoric and their adopted daughter were likely either cuddling by a fire or environment training on this dreary, rainy day. It had stopped raining a while ago, but contaminated raindrops pitter pattered and dripped off poorly kempt wood beams and stone walls. Tylmerande was a disaster.

"E-Excuse me, sir?"

The cloaked redhead turned in shock over being called sir. Below her, on the ground, was a begger - no, merchant with a pitiful crate of withered fruits sat. "May I interest you in fresh fruit? Grown from my garden!"

Felicity paused. Her first question was on how on earth she was mistaken for a man! Then, she looked down. Her sleeveless gambeson revealed her muscular, scarred arms, but was so heavy and loose that her, well, assets were not that obvious. She also wore a cloak over her head, hiding her more feminine face and long, red hair from visibility as well.

But even more than that, this man was in need. She gazed down at the thin, wrinkled, pathetic fruits... and smiled. Not even lowering her hood, she pulled the needed coin and more out of her pocket and handed it to him, "Keep the change."

He eagerly accepted the coin while Felicity pulled an apricot out. A thin apricot with the pit physically able to be felt, but an apricot. She stuffed the likely too ripe fruit into her pocket and continued along. Sometimes she wondered why she still cared about others, but she did.

Eventually, she made it to the tavern where things were... booming. A ministral played music with a small crowd gathered around, many more patrons hung around the roaring fires to warm up after the cold rain. Some were drinking, partaking in likely illegal drugs in plain sight, or flirting around to find love. Felicity sighed, pulling her hood a bit tighter over her head. Yeah, she was hoping the men here would mistake her for a dude too.

She almost immediately saw the signature white coat in a corner. Felicity smiled slightly, walking over and scooting around a blind man and his loyal hound to get to her target. Shinsou Vaan Osiris. Her mentor, the man who literally saved her life on multiple occasions. She owed so much to him. Yet, she felt owed as well. As much as life in New Brookshaven, and with Leoric, had kept her from training, she and Shinsou still desperately needed to train. Yes, Felicity trained with Leoric daily and was thankful for that, but Shinsou...

Felicity sat across from the telgradian at the table, finally pulling down her hood and revealing her face. "Well, Tylmerande is way different than I remember it being as a child. This place is in shambles."

Felicity pulled out the borderline inedible fruit and started playing with it like a toy, tossing it from one hand to another. Meanwhile, a serving girl approached and asked, "Greetings, miss. Will you be having anything?"

The half neanderthal blinked for a moment, then smiled and nodded, "A loaf of bread, just the whole thing. Oh, and a pint of apple cider, non-alcoholic."

Felicity feared losing control under alcohol, fearing it would make her already unstable powers worse. Ironic, with how Felicity's lover was an alcoholic.

The girl nodded and turned to leave. As the order was being attended to, Felicity turned to face Shinsou and sighed, "I'm pretty much always hungry these days. I've noticed bread makes me feel fuller though. It's hard having a ferocious metabolism in times like this..."

She noticed she was still playing with the apricot and smiled nervously, stuffing it back into her pocket. She looked back to Shinsou and smiled, nodding. "So, how are you?"

How am I, huh…?

In a moment of quiet that followed, as Felicity smiled at him, Shinsou Vaan Osiris saw something in his apprentice as his golden eyes swept over her. She seemed more lively. The Neanderthal’s face had colour. Her eyes had life in them that the Telgradian hadn’t seen in a long time. Before he got a chance to answer, the waitress returned with Felicity’s loaf of bread.

“There you go, miss.” The woman set down the silver platter, and winked at Shinsou. “Top up?”

“Sure.”

The bread looked, and smelled, amazing – some sourdough stuff with a crusty salted edge that was warm to the touch. Shinsou supped more of his replenished ale and smiled as the Neanderthal began devouring the loaf with large bites.

“Life is…” Shinsou mustered, eventually. As he lifted his tankard, deep in thought, he caught his reflection for long enough to notice how much he had weathered. The long days of travel and battle had begun to show on his form once again; creases in his forehead, bags under his eyes. “Well, we finally got that son-of-a-bitch Arius in a cemetery outside Tylmerande, but Whitevale is a smouldering wreck. I moved here to give myself a bit of head space and some time to heal up while the contractors clear the debris. For now, this town is still loyal to the Brotherhood. What’s left of it, at least. They treat me well enough.”

He knew he’d dodged the question, really. The warm, green eyes of his friend across the table flashed up from her meal as he felt her pick up on it. Unlike Shinsou, Felicity was too experienced in empathy to ignore the signs that the Telgradian had offered, and he knew better than to wait to be offered the chance to really explain his mental state.

“It’s not been great, Fel. He’s been in my head for years, living right there.” Shinsou tapped his index finger on the side of his temple, his eyes narrowing. “And I found out something that Storm doesn’t know, something that’s got me up most nights. Arius was looking for something called the Ark of the Watcher. I’ve got no idea what or where it is, but it has to be important. The whole situation’s got me thinking like a paranoid idiot. What if Arius himself finds a way to come back? What if, what if, what if. All the fucking time. It’s hard to live like that. I’m trying not to.”

The Telgradian was suddenly cognizant of patrons spilling out around them. A pair of thick, large sofas next to them, typically occupied by high-priced whores and movers were now getting filled up, and staff bustled about cleaning the place. The squeak of shoes created a bizarre melody, steins clinking as a handsome barkeep prepped his inventory, systematically hanging the pristine glasses from hooks high above the bar. Shinsou stretched himself in his large chair.

“So, I’m just trying to keep a handle on all this, really. I’ve been spending most of my time training and trying to figure out what the Ark of the Watcher is. I’m no further on with the latter – but the former really helps.”

“Sir, perhaps a whiskey?” The tall, thin waitress was back again, stood by the hip of the Telgradian. Her milky hands held a small notepad and pen to take the order.

“No thanks. Just a tea, maybe a touch of vanilla.” Immediately, Shinsou’s disarming smile broke any tension in the room, as the Telgradian flashed his bright white teeth and rested his hands harmlessly across his lap, running a single finger along the seam of the white coat that snugly wrapped his frame.

“Then, there’s you.” Shinsou turned back to Felicity, who was a good three quarters way through the bread. “What do I say to you, who I let down so badly? How do I make that up to you? I don’t really have an answer. You needed me and I wasn’t there. I won’t be making that mistake again.”

The waitress interrupted him momentarily by placing a silver tray on the table containing his order. Picking up the cup and sipping gently at the hot, richly flavoured crest of his beverage, Shinsou raised the cup and thanked the serving girl with a few gold coins. Turning, he stared in at the cup of swirling brown and steam, feeling the gentle whisper of vapours against his jaw. He slid something across to Felicity, a small item contained in a wax sealed envelope.

“It’s a ring, made from a piece of my sword, Enpera. I call it Imperatrix. It’s basically enchanted Prevailda. If you wear it, I’ll be able to teach you to conjure dark matter. Gives you another string to your bow, and not one that tries to kill you every time you use it.”

Quote:

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OOC: The Prevailda Ring is a spoil to come out of Shinsou's GP at the end of the thread.

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So... It was true, Shinsou had gone after Arius without her. Of course, Felicity knew Whitevale had been destroyed. She laughed sadly, unable to get the ruins she saw with her own eyes out of her head.

"You wonder how I lost my virginity? I saw Whitevale demolished myself, then ran to the guy I crushed on and he offered me some comfort for my troubles."

Of course, she was far better now than she had been. Back when she and Shinsou fought in the Citadel, Felicity still felt like Leoric had been her enemy, and her mind was in a terribly dark place. Yet, finding Leoric again, making up, and entering a relationship with him had been a long journey. After fighting meenlocks and being forced to face her deepest fears, she was actually able to... move. She could not before, but now she was. Despite all her troubles with Leoric, he continued to invigorate her. It was... strange, to say the least.

Yet, she blinked in worry over Shinsou. He obviously was doing worse for ware. The circles under his eyes, his more improper body language. He spoke of Arius getting into his head, to the point of sleepless nights. Looking back on all the troubles of her PTSD, then Whitevale's downfall, then Leoric relationship drama... She could relate to the obsession, the sleepless nights, the internal hell.

It was torturous.

Yet, she was shocked when he apologized to her, outright admitted what she felt, that he had never been there for her and he let her down. Her life was pain, and she never felt like her mentor had her back. As the envelope was slid over to her, the half neanderthal looked down in shock. She plopped the quarter loaf of bread down and gently took the envelope. Her Damascus finger worked just as well as every other as she carefully opened the envelope, pulling the ring out. She blinked the tears back, looking upon the ring. She had been hoping to ask Shinsou what he knew about ice magic, but this...

She reached back, placing her hand on the hilt of the black prevalida katana on her back. She had always meant to imitate his fighting style, even if she did not know dark matter magic. But... this...

The shock, stunning, admiration, hurt from abandonment, the sense of being found, the honor, the amazement... it was all written on her face as she silently gazed upon the ring, a lone tear slipping down her cheek.

It felt like an eternity had passed before either person spoke again. Shinsou watched as Felicity failed to leash her feelings, her composure telling of a concoction of different emotions.

“I know,” The Telgradian finally asked, unsure of what to say but wanting desperately to break the silence. “There’s a lot to take in, and a lot to forgive. But we must make a move, because we’ve got a long day ahead of us. Follow me.” He leaned back against the rough cut of the chair, sucking the rest of his tea down, and then with the cup emptied Shinsou reached down and retrieved Enpera in its sheath from the floor.

***

Beyond the beaten track leading north, the Telgradian led Felicity Rhyolite to an open field of grass that held the knee-high remains of a much older, derelict part of the port town. There wasn’t much left of this part of Tylmerande, and the rotting wood and shattered masonry of the remnants spoke of a time long before the current settlement, but it was perfect for what they needed.

As they moved amongst the assorted debris, Shinsou secretly took a more thorough reading of Felicity with his senses. Her power had grown exponentially since the last time they had fought in the Citadel, but the girl was still crude and unorthodox. For all that raw strength and her unpredictable abilities, she was still dangerous to herself and everyone around her, and still unrefined.

That was where he’d come in.

“Sit down for a minute,” Shinsou spoke, gesturing to a part of a broken wall behind him.

Felicity had been bobbing about from tiptoe to heel, limbering up, but her hands drooped to her side. Her eyes glinted in the sunlight as she walked, her katana Copycat glimmering silver in the glow of the afternoon as one slender hand poised upon the hilt of the sword. This time, there was no puzzled expression etched on her face as she peered him. He matched her gaze, thinking of the veritable wall they would have to climb today.

“Enpera.“ The Telgradian spoke in turn, his blade swaying at his side in its sheath as he reached over and tapped it on the hilt. “Back in Telgradia, each one of us born is given a simple katana at ten years old. At our coming of age, we each place exactly half of our power into the sword in a ritual known as Shinto.”

Coolly, he tossed away a few bangs of his chestnut hair from his face and drew Enpera, holding it aloft. “Doing this was mostly intended to be symbolic; unity with our swords, and a commitment to a certain way of life. One can never be whole without the other. That was the idea, anyway. Shinto created a side effect. It gave our swords life. It is said our swords repaid their debt by granting us power.”

The Telgradian retrieved Enpera, returning it to the sheath from the cool air in a single fluid motion. “That’s partially true, but really it’s down to magical science. For a moment, think of this sword as a bank, and my power as money. I split my pot in half. I keep half out for myself, put it in a sock somewhere. What happens?”

Felicity blinked. “Nothing? It stays in the sock.”

“Right,” Shinsou continued. “Now, I take the other half to the bank. I deposit it. What happens?”

Felicity blinked again. “It gets put in a vault?”

“Yes, and no. It earns interest.” Shinsou smiled. “It grows. The longer that money is left there, untouched, the more interest I get. Same thing with Enpera. My half of my power doesn’t grow at all, but the half that’s inside Enpera is growing all the time. So much so, that I have to seal it until I need it.”

“Hakai and Senkai, right?” Felciity asked, nodding slowly.

“Right again,” Shinsou paced for a moment, gazing at the sky. “When I use Hakai and Senkai, I’m not increasing my abilities. I’m returning to normal. I’m opening the vault door, and making a withdrawal so that all my money is in one place. At any one moment in time, with those seals in place, I'm using about 10% of my potential. 50% once I release Hakai, and around 90% after Senkai. Beyond that, I've never tried to reach.”

The Neanderthal seemed to follow the banking analogies. The Telgradian was pleased so far, and pointed to the ring on her finger. “So, what happens with that? Well, Imperatrix is a fragment of Enpera. It’s separate from it, but contains and displays its characteristics. With it, you’ll be able to use some of my abilities. In time, it’ll adapt to you, absorb some of your own power and grow into something like a hybrid of the two.”

Shinsou looked back at the red-headed girl with those last words. Inside him was a smouldering determination to help Felicity realise her potential, and for the girl to take this boon and use it as an alternative. There was something they could both do to sway the Neanderthal’s path so that she could protect herself without raining destruction down on herself and everyone around her with those terrible, traumatic powers inherent in her. Shinsou gave her a small bleak smile. At times, it could be so difficult to discern what the redhead was really thinking.

“Now,” The Telgradian said, pointing to a tree fifty yards away, “Our first task is going to be learning how to tap into Imperatrix's power. Forge a dark matter lance using that ring, and hit that tree. You'll feel it in the pit of your gut if you've done it right. Will it into existence.”