< atton revisited > The information page for Atton has been fully revised and updated with the new map!
< updated calendar > The Fortuna calendar has been updated in the "Other" lore section! This includes a document which displays the calendar for you to see, making it much easier to understand.
< moving map > The first functional map has been released in the News section! This map is also interactive, allowing you to drag and drop between points in order to determine distances. This is the first iteration, and there's more and better to come!
< first annual awards > The results for the First Annual Fortuna Year-End Awards have been posted! Go and take a look at who the finalists were, and who took home the big prizes!
< new default skin > Our new skin has passed the beta test, and is now the new Default for the forums! If you have any issues with this skin, send a PM or Discord to Mellie.
< human lore update > Humans have been updated with TWENTY-FIVE subraces/subcultures which add numerous options, and a little extra lore and flavour.
< magic lore update > Magical Lore has been enhanced with the addition of a post on Magical Education. From Beginner to Expert, this is how you learn the spells.
< a change to member groups > Member groups are now based on storyline! You can change your displayed storyline by editing the settings in your profile.
Welcome to the world of Fortuna, a land of fantastic proportions. This is an original fantasy roleplay that takes place in a world developed over nearly a decade of work and collaboration. We aim to encourage all participants to have a hand in the stories of the characters here, and the world around them. Your choices are key - so make them with pride. You decide who wins the wars, you decide who becomes King, the world is ours, and together we will bring it to life!
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Nov 28, 2016 17:20:49 GMT -7
7:00pm on the 4th of The Sisters, 5148 King Haelrin's Throne Room
The decision had been a difficult one to make, but an easy one to apply. Once she had steeled herself for the worst possibilities Haelrin could demand she live, nothing seemed so bad. Besides - she had wanted to stay in the Feywild, far more than Endless ever had. Yes, he had agreed, but she felt that - in some way - she had pushed him. Pressured him into something he wasn't ready to commit to. For him, this would be a life sentence. He would need to eat, and so his sentence would be extended into eternity. She wouldn't have to. She had the freedom.
And so she would trade her freedom, gifted by destiny; for his prison sentence, taken by choice.
It only seemed fair.
And that was why she was standing in King Haelrin's throne room, a place she hadn't imagined in her wildest dreams. It was a room that seemed too tall for one to even see the ceiling, or for one to even find the ceiling through flight. The walls were coated with layers of lights and doors, windows, tapestries, all piling atop one another as they stretched high up the length of room. Most of the doors were on the main level, connecting to the room, to the floor. And yet, some were forty, eighty, one hundred feet above her. It was beautiful and confusing all at once, just like the Feywild.
She could get use to it.
The floor was a beautiful blue marble, with a purple carpet stretching from Haelrin's throne to the guarded doors she had entered from. And Haelrin's throne was the central piece that all thrones desire to be, and then some. It was too large for any mortal-sized creature, seeming large enough for a giant with an upholstered back that reached up a good twenty feet. It was embellished with gold, and ruby, and sapphire, and amethyst, but as she looked - they seemed to change. She wondered if he perhaps chose a different colour with whatever mood he was in. For now, the entire room seemed to tinge a light blue. What that meant - she couldn't know.
Despite the throne, and the walls, and the changing colours, the most impressive thing was Haelrin himself. He was lounged on the throne itself, stretched across its length in a casual, and somewhat sexual pose - enhanced by his clothing, or lack thereof. His silver hair was long and fell across the right arm of the throne and piled a foot high next to it. It looked silken to the touch, and moved with an ethereal, light breeze. Coming from his temples were two goat-like horns that curved with an elegance that no animal could ever hope to achieve, and they seemed to be embellished with jewels that matched his throne - almost as if he wore his horns like a crown. His face was slender and somehow nonhuman - which made sense, as he was a god. His eyes sparkled amethyst and lacked pupils, and his lips seemed tinged with the same tone. His torso was long and lithe, and moved little with each breath - Tehodis thought he might have been mistaken for a statue if it weren't not for the mindless strumming of his fingers. His legs were like a goat's, or she should say, like a Satyr's. She wondered if perhaps he had been their creator. He was intimidating in his godly glory - but Tehodis did not have time to be intimidated.
Now isn't this interesting, He spoke without his lips moving, seeming to send his words into her mind. She wondered then if he could read her thoughts - but his curiosity seemed to belie that fear, It is not often that a mortal seeks me out directly. Particularly not one who knows... What she wants. Now my little dear, tell me what that is. Entertain me, and I may permit you to speak again.
She had been warned that Haelrin had little patience. She watched as the blues of the room seemed to warm, and wondered if perhaps that meant his patience was wearing thinner. She decided to speak - there wasn't time to waste. "I've heard tell that you enjoy making deals with mortals, your Ultimate Highness--" That was what the purple fairy had advised her to call him, he seemed pleased by it, "--I have one such deal, if you'll do me the honour of hearing it."
Haelrin laughed, and it made Tehodis' mind feel warm and cold at the same time. He was mocking her - but he was entertained. What might you have to offer me, little dear? I already own you. In this moment I could bind your soul with chains, and keep you as another of my mortal slaves, there to play my games for the remainder of your sentence. You have nothing to offer me.
"But I do. With respect, your Ultimate Highness... But I feed on magic, I need not eat your forbidden fruit again. I can be free in mere weeks."
This I know. You bore me. He waved a silent hand, and fairies descended on Tehodis - but she wasn't about to give up. She focused the energy she had imagined once before, back when she believed this world to be a dream, back when her and Endless first arrived -- and she pushed them away with a blast of white magic. "But I can give you more!"
Haelrin sat up in his throne, suddenly curious as he looked at his guards scattered about. A second chance, then. Go on.
Tehodis visibly relaxed, and adjusted the billowing sleeves that made her look like she belonged here. She would get quite used to this outfit in her life here, certainly. "As you know, your Ultimate Highness, I arrived here with another. Another without the ability to thrive the way I do. But there is something that is not here for him, something he cannot live without. What I know, is that this soul of his, won't last long in your Wilds. Mine... Mine will. So, my offer is this: Take my soul for eternity. For all the days I am to live, I will remain here in the Feywild, ever to work in service to your holiness. Release his soul back to Fortuna, and never again lure him to these Wilds. If you make this deal with me, you shall have a soul that will not only be loyal to you, but will survive here for... For at least twice as long as his. This is my offer to you, your Ultimate Highness."
At this, she took to one knee to bow to him. She needed him to believe she would be loyal. She needed him to want her in his service. She needed something he wasn't prepared to give.
A curious offer, He echoed as he mulled it over, the room seeming to fill with purples, But not an interesting one. Come to me, little dear. He reached out a hand and his long fingers made a come hither motion. It gave her a shiver, but she obeyed - she needed to be loyal. As she reached the top of the steps to his throne, and stood before him - noticing only now that he must have been eight, nine, or ten feet tall - he simply smirked. Closer. She moved closer, his eyes flashed. Lean down, little dear. You should never look down upon a God. And so she did, bowing her head. The moment it was low enough, he reached up with a snap and held her temples between his hands. His grip was firm, and while it felt neither cold nor hot, it made her brain feel both. The celestial magic felt overwhelming.
Let us see what makes you so special, hm, little dear? His nails stabbed into the sides of her temples, and she whimpered, but did not yell, or scream, or rip herself away. Instead, she was still, and as she was still, he investigated her mind. Interesting.
"What-- What do you see?" Mumbled Tehodis weakly, feeling overcome with the connection, with the invasion of her thoughts. Your mind is more trouble to enter than I would have thought. But it isn't you, and it isn't magic. It's simply... Interesting. Ah! There we have it. I've entered, now.
As he said those words, Tehodis felt a blinding pain that shot her vision into whiteness. In another moment, that whiteness began to fill with unfamiliar, yet familiar sights. A man with green skin who looked at her lovingly, whom she traded rings and words with, whom she felt her heart throb for. She saw another man with green skin, but it was skin like her's, and she loved him, too. This man was her brother, and she knew it now. Then she saw her mother, her father. She remembered how her father had been to the Feywild many times, and how eventually he had fallen in love with it, and never returned. She remembered that she was a sorceress, a Diviner, and a damn good one. She remembered that she was in love. That she was happy. And she remembered... She remembered... She remembered being captured. By a military she was unfamiliar with. And she remembered him. The toothy man. The one who called her Blue. The one who she was so afraid of.
And then, unfamiliar images fell into place next. Tehodis saw a woman in a cottage who smiled a smile she had never seen before, and who reached out to Tehodis so lovingly. She saw a swamp, and saw herself picking things from the grass, and the mud, and the water. She saw the hull of a ship, where she shivered in cold and counted herself to sleep. She saw a man, a noble man, who looked at her with great interest, and who said his name in a muffled voice. This man reached out to her as well, and his hand was warm, and the way he looked at her reminded her of the green-skinned man - but the way she looked at him wasn't the same. She saw a pair of bright green eyes and felt anger, and she was suddenly holding a dagger which she used to stab into the holder of those eyes.
And then it was nothing again.
And then it was the throne room.
Oh, my little dear, oh indeed, Haelrin seemed enthused, and Tehodis noticed that the room was now gold and sparkling. She wasn't sure if that had been Haelrin, or if she was just that dizzy. "Wh-what was that..." She managed to sputter. He let her go and she stumbled backwards. Her foot missed the step, but Haelrin cast a lazy spell to cushion her fall. Your memories, and a potential future for you. At least, the one dear mommy Fayana has picked out for you. I have a new deal for you, little dear, if you've gathered your mind back.
Tehodis did have her mind back. She had memory beyond any she had before. She knew it all. She knew her parents, her brother Nathaniel, her fiancee Tristan, she knew Thomas Dunn. She knew her life. Her eyes welled with tears, but she swallowed them down, because she also knew someone else: Endless. "Tell me, y-your Ultimate Highness."
Your servitude is not enough. I could merely trick you into eating for eternity, as your appetite for fey food is impressive. I shall take your servitude... But I also want your memories. I want them for my own collection. And what you saw of your future? I want that, too. The hope, the pain, the potential. All of it shall be mine, and the only thing you shall remember is that you are my servant. With those terms accepted, I would not only allow your friend to depart my realm... I would transport him there myself. And he would be made forever immune to the magic that binds souls here, and to the magic that brings souls here. So, little dear, what shall it be? You, or your friend?
After seeing all of that, the decision was harder. It turned out that she did have something to live for in Fortuna. Family, love, potential - as Haelrin said. There was a world there waiting for her... But, if she did not make the deal, Endless would have nothing. He would wallow to dust, she was sure, and in the end... It had been she who had goaded him into coming to the Feywild. She had decided. This was her cross to bear.
She saw Haelrin's eyes flash as noises came from beyond his door, she saw them narrow, and then he said: Your decision must be made now, or the offer shall be rescinded. So?
"I... I accept your deal, your Ultimate Highness."
Haelrin smiled, and he stood. He walked towards her as the yelling got closer. He put his hands on her head as the doors burst open. And before Endless or Rill could say a word, Tehodis had her memories ripped from her mind. Every thought she had had up to that point, gone. Haelrin let her go, and she spun with a light head, falling once more to the cushion he had made, falling before Rill and Endless.
Dear Endless Laeretti, you've come at the perfect time.
Post by Endless Laeretti on Nov 28, 2016 22:55:36 GMT -7
The first sight that greeted Endless when he and Rill burst through the doors was the sight of Tehodis falling backwards, her fall cushioned by some invisible force as she sprawled out onto the floor. Before her was an enormous man, or creature, or... god? That is what Haelrin was supposed to be, and Endless was sure that if anyone was the fey god Haelrin, this must be him.
He smiled at Endless in a strangely inhuman fashion, an unsettling divide on a mostly humanoid face, and when he spoke, his lips were still, and Endless could hear his voice directly in his mind.
Dear Endless Laeretti, you've come at the perfect time.
Endless sprang forward, dashing to Tehodis's side and kneeling beside her. Haelrin made no move to stop him. The boy had Tehodis's head on his lap, and he was shaking her frantically. "Tehodis! Tehodis come on, wake up..." He turned an accusing gaze up at the intimidating god standing above him, somehow losing all sense of fear he should have. "What did you do to her!"
Only what she agreed to, he answered, a smug ring in the sound of the voice in Endless's mind. The God then narrowed his slanted eyes at Endless scornfully. And you should feel fortunate that she did. Otherwise, I wouldn't suffer that impudent tone you dare to speak to me with.
"What. Did you. Do," he asked again, not caring about the god's offhanded threat or his indignation. Tehodis, Endless's friend, was lying on the ground, unconscious and unresponsive, and Haelrin was responsible. Endless didn't care what he had to do if it meant making him pay for that.
"Endless!" Rill shouted, standing near the door still and looking extremely concerned. "Don't make it worse!"
Haelrin turned his gaze to Rill, and snapped his fingers. The sound echoed through the throne chamber, and Rill suddenly crumbled, held to the ground as though bound, and gasped for breath.
"Rill!" Endless shouted, now terrified.
I don't take kindly to my subjects conspiring against me, Rill of the Wild Rose. You tried to keep these mortals hidden from me, and even aided this one in breaking into my castle. This is a grave offense, Haelrin said, his gaze entirely unamused.
"Don't you touch him!" Endless cried, and he wasn't thinking, he was only feeling, feeling rage and pain and a fear of loss. A pulse blasted out from him, much like the one all those years ago when he found his home in smoldering ruins, one like he'd never reproduced since. The wave spread out, shattering windows in the room and even knocking the great Haelrin off balance.
The god of the feywild stumbled, and then turned his venomous gaze upon Endless. All around them, the gems and walls had started changing color, displaying a vibrant red. Rill looked terrified.
You insolent, pathetic, worm he spoke, and his voice was like fire in Endless's mind, making him recoil, making him feel pain. How dare you so much as think you could harm me, let alone attempt-
Haelrin suddenly halted as he drew near, bearing down on Endless, and got a good look at him, at his wide eyes that stared back so defiantly. A look of recognition crossed his features, and the god made an audible scoff, one Endless could hear with his ears.
I see. How incredibly delightful this is. It would seem she must have been conspiring to keep you out of my grasp, said the fey god, and Endless wasn't sure who he meant. Was he talking about Tehodis? A shame I didn't realize sooner. Keeping you as a prize would have been a greater treat than you know.
He backed off now, smiling again as the colors in the room morphed back into something like purple, and then green. Endless had no idea what he was talking about, but Haelrin gave him no chance to ask. But I know just the ideal way to punish someone like you. I know just the way to make it hurt the most. You will simply... watch.
He snapped his fingers again and Endless felt like chains were surrounding him, holding him in place, binding his limbs. And then that fairy from earlier, the fairy with the unpleasant, sadistic expression, descended, landing beside Rill.
"You called, Your Ultimate Highness?"
Sybelle, take our friend here to my dungeon. I imagine I'll find many ways to make him entertaining as he suffers for the next few years.
"As you wish~!" Sybelle gleefully grabbed a hold of Rill, who still seemed as though he was unable to move, and started flying away with him. Rill could't move, couldn't even seem to speak, but he looked at Endless with an expression of loss. Sybelle grabbed his hand and made it make a waving motion at Endless, and then she released it to pantomime a tear running down her cheek. "Too bad, Endy. So sad~"
"Rill!! Stop!!" Endless shouted, but he couldn't move or do anything to stop it. He was indeed forced to watch as Sybelle carried Rill off to some unimaginable fate, where he would suffer for years just because he had the nerve to be a good person.
And he is not the only one. Your dear Tehodis here shall also remain in my custody, for all the days she is to live; such is what she agreed to. She shall be mine forevermore, and you will now have to say your farewells. Shame that she will never hear them.
The god seemed incredibly satisfied with himself, and now he made a beckoning motion with his hand. You may come now. I welcome you into my Kingdom.
At that, Endless suddenly heard an intense howling rage from behind him, but this was not the howling of a beast - this was the howling of wind, and Endless could feel it on his back. With great, great effort, Endless managed to turn in the invisible shackles holding him, and when he looked behind himself, he was stunned.
Outside one of the windows he had shattered earlier was easily the most enormous bird Endless had ever seen - no, it had to be the largest anyone had ever seen. It was a massive creature with blue plumage that seemed to shimmer in the light, almost as though its feathers were as the surface of water. With every flap of its massive wings, it generated more intense wind, wind that was surrounding the Castle of King Haelrin and blocking the royal city from sight. Endless felt cold, like just being in this magnificent creature's presence was chilling him to his soul. It could devour him instantly if it so chose, for its size was enough to dwarf the entire balcony it hovered outside of, its talons looking like they could crush massive boulders. And yet for all its size and terror, it was extremely beautiful, awe-inspiring even. The sight of it left him frightened but also left him wanting to stare forever.
And when he met its eyes, he suddenly felt a powerful, unexplainable connection to the beast. For a moment, it was like time itself was frozen. Not Haelrin, not any of the royal fairies, appeared to be moving or doing anything. Endless was suspended in a still moment with this massive, god-like bird.
ENDLESS LAERETTI. YOUR CHOICES HAVE BEEN YOUR OWN. BUT YOU HAVE FAILED TO RECOGNIZE YOURSELF FOR WHAT YOU ARE, AND YOU HAVE FAILED TO RECOGNIZE YOUR OWN DESIRES. YOU LOCK YOURSELF AWAY BEYOND A FOG. TODAY, YOU RECEIVE ANOTHER CHANCE. WILL YOU AGAIN PILOT YOURSELF TO RUIN, TO ALLOW OTHERS TO SUFFER PENALTIES FOR YOUR ERRORS, OR WILL YOU GUIDE YOURSELF TOWARDS RIGHTING YOUR MISTAKES. MAY THESE WINDS PURIFY YOUR DOUBTS AND SWEEP AWAY THE FOG THAT HINDERS YOU.
It was hardly a conversation, and more like an edict. Endless felt like he was being chastised. It was... incredibly weird to think of it as such, but it somehow, confusingly, almost felt to him like when his mother would chide him for a misdeed, the disappointment she felt worse than any anger. Endless distinctly felt something similar, like this bird was disappointed in him and wanted him to do better. He had no answer for it, for as soon as he was done listening, that still moment in time seemed to unfreeze, and Haelrin was nodding at the massive bird.
Get him out of my sight, Xinrra. Then leave my realm. Neither of you will ever be welcome here again.
Endless felt almost as though the bird gave Haelrin a look of scorn, but it did as bidden. As Haelrin stepped forward and plucked up Tehodis, pulling her away from Endless, the bird began to flap its wings once more, creating more and more powerful winds. They surrounded Endless like a funnel, and he could feel Haelrin's shackles on him coming undone as he was lifted off the ground by the winds, gradually being drawn upwards.
Endless watched through the windscreen as Haelrin smiled at him mockingly, Tehodis in his grasp, and realized what the king had meant by him having to watch. He knew now as well what fate was waiting for Tehodis, and he could do nothing but stare as he was pulled further away from her, powerless.
Powerless...
Will you again pilot yourself to ruin, to allow others to suffer penalties for your errors, or will you guide yourself towards righting your mistakes?
Endless grit his teeth. He'd never done this before, and for all he knew he was absolutely certain he couldn't. But he had to. He had to. He had to believe he was capable. Maybe here, maybe in the feywild, maybe he could use the magic of this place against Haelrin himself.
He glared, mustering as much hate as he could into the look, and let out a guttural yell as he pushed with his mind, reaching out to grasp Tehodis like he would grasp an object. Already he could feel a splitting headache from even attempting this. He couldn't move people, he couldn't move people, but he had to. He could not fail.
With another yell, he pushed everything he had into his power's reach, and then he passed out, wiped out from the strain and from the surrounding wind. What he wasn't conscious to see was the shock on Haelrin's godly face as Tehodis was abruptly ripped from his grasp, yanked into the swirling wind tunnel.
He commanded for the Xinrra to stop, to return his possession to him, but the bird continued to flap its wings, heedless of the order.
The wind tunnel rose higher and higher into the sky, the great divine bird flying high with it, and then like magic, the winds cleared.
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Nov 29, 2016 8:19:34 GMT -7
The Beaches of Nowra
When Tehodis awoke, it was in sand. Her arms were sore, and it took her a moment to realize that someone's hands were encircled tightly just above her elbows. As her vision cleared, and her thoughts unfogged, she put together the situation. She was lying on sand, an unconscious, strange boy gripping her tightly despite his state of awakeness. There were flowers across the sand, and the smell was pretty, but it seemed almost strange that they had grown there. It was sunset. The sun was descending, the skies a beautiful orange, it reflected off the water and something about it made her feel... Safe.
But she didn't know why she felt safe.
She should have felt scared. Here was this stranger, who would be bruising her if she could bruise, and she didn't remember a thing before this very moment. She would squint her eyes and ask herself why the beach felt familiar, why the flowers felt familiar, why the boy felt familiar, but she would have no answer. She did not even have an answer to the far simple question of: Who am I?
She groaned with effort as she moved her arms, wriggling herself free of the boy's grip. He only began to let go as his eyes opened, and Tehodis realized he was strange. His eyes lacked pupils. It looked wrong to her, but then she realized she had never seen anyone else's eyes. She wondered if pupils were merely a piece of her imagination. Did she have pupils?
As his grip left her arms, she pulled herself free and rolled across the sand - away from him - before working on standing up. Her legs were tingling with sleep - and so was the rest of her - but she wanted to get up. To walk away. She didn't know this boy. She didn't know this beach. She didn't know where to go. She just had a single word rattling in her mind, one thing that enforced a desire: home. "Wait," She thought she heard the boy say, but she was too focused on standing, on leaving.
Last Edit: Nov 29, 2016 8:19:57 GMT -7 by Tehodis Kitai
Post by Endless Laeretti on Nov 29, 2016 21:28:07 GMT -7
Endless felt like he'd been having a long dream. In the dream there were enormous mushrooms, there was a friend who had quickly become dear, there was a lovely boy, there was a monstrous god, and a god-like monster. And in the dream there was something he had to protect, but he realized it only too late. In the dream he had lost something, someone, and he had tried desperately not to lose another. As he felt himself stirring towards consciousness, a wriggling weight in his arms, he started to feel like maybe it hadn't been a dream. He started to think that maybe it had been very real, but, he couldn't quite remember everything. Details were escaping him, his brain felt muddy... how long had he been dreaming?
He finally opened his eyes when the stirring became incessant, and he felt whomever he was holding escape his hold. He looked up at her just as she was looking down at him, her expression confused, lost, and Endless felt an instant chord of recognition...
Without a word, she was on her feet. She was walking away on what looked like jelly legs, and Endless noticed she was wearing strange clothes, tight in some places, poofy in another... clothes from the dream...
Tehodis.
Her name clicked in his head, and he could remember a few things - that she was lost, she had no memories, she was a friend, he was worried about her, he had... he had tried to save her from the monster god in the dream. He still had a nagging sense that there was someone he had lost, not all of the pieces were falling into place. It was all still murky. But he knew Tehodis had been there, and he knew they had become friends, and he knew he had tried to save her. She felt important to him, even if he couldn't recall everything he had seen in the dream.
"Wait," he said, calling after her, but she kept walking, like she was ignoring him. He hastily scrambled to his feet, recoiling dizzily as he did so, suddenly aware of a strong headache he had. "Wait!" he called again, stumbling after her with a hand outstretched. "Tehodis, where are you going? What... where even are we now?"
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Nov 29, 2016 22:34:25 GMT -7
The boy called after her. He wanted her to turn around, he wanted her to let him grip her arms again. She wouldn't let him. Or at least, she thought she wouldn't. But when he said Tehodis she froze. There was a familiarity of that which rang through her bones like a massive bell.
"That's my name," She realized aloud, and turned towards the boy. Her face was a question. He didn't look familiar - but then, she didn't look familiar. He asked her where she was going, and where they were now. Perhaps he was as clueless as her. She wandered back to him, feeling a small kinship now that he seemed as clueless as her. Or perhaps almost as clueless. She faced him as the sun disappeared into the sea, it reflecting in her eyes. She watched his face with curiosity, looking for some kind of answer, some clue to what she was. Who she was. Who he was. Eventually though, she had only three words: "I don't know." She didn't know she was crying until a tear was already rolling down her cheek. She reached out and gripped Endless' arms as he had gripped her's, and then she rested her forehead on his chest. Nothing about it felt familiar, but it felt comforting. That was enough for this moment.
Post by Endless Laeretti on Nov 29, 2016 23:29:16 GMT -7
He didn't know what to do. He'd never had someone cry on him before. He had no idea what to think when she stopped trying to get away from him, after answering him in confusion, and laid her head on his chest while gripping his arms. He lifted his own hesitantly, unsure of where he was supposed to place them. Eventually he settled on laying one on her head and the other on her back, rubbing hesitantly.
She didn't know. She seemed surprised to even hear her name. Endless knew they'd both been having the dream, they had both been there... but if he came back from it not remembering very much, not having a clear grasp on all the details, then... did that mean Tehodis, who already had amnesia even while they were in the dream, was suffering even worse than he was?
Suffering so much that she couldn't even recall her name until he'd said it?
Endless felt his eyes sting, and his breath sped up. He felt like crying. Crying because he couldn't remember everything that had happened, because he couldn't place a name or face to the idea of this other important someone he had lost, because he couldn't recall how they had gotten to where they were or how they had gotten back, and because he knew that all of this had to have been ten times worse for Tehodis than himself. He felt like crying because something was wrong, and he'd learned an important lesson from it, and now he couldn't remember what it was.
But he did not. Tehodis was crying already, and he had to keep it together for her sake.
He needed to make sure she was alright. To keep her safe. That's the one thing he remembered clearly. He'd saved her, from something terrible, and he needed to make sure it stayed that way.
"Hey," he said gently, pushing her back just a bit so that her face was't in his chest and she could look at him. "Your name is Tehodis. And you're my friend. You might not remember it... but we are friends. And we both were having a long dream, and a lot of things happened there. I don't... I don't remember it all, either. But I know I cared about you. And I think you cared about me, too. You tried to, to do... something, for my sake, and we were in danger. But we got away. We're here now. So we've just got to... try and figure this out a bit at a time, okay?"
He missed whomever else was supposed to be with them. He couldn't remember him, only fleeting traces of a smile and that he made Endless happy, but he knew that he should have been here. Maybe he could have helped them. He missed this unknown person, and wondered if they'd ever see him again.
A tug in his chest suddenly made him aware of something. He turned to look at the horizon, and he saw the sun sinking low. He felt excitement and anticipation, and while he was familiar with this feeling, familiar with how he got strangely expectant whenever night would fall, this time it felt a little different. This time it felt somehow like coming home, like it had been months since he'd seen this sight last.
The sun set, and the light of two moons dominated the sky in its absence, and Endless could feel his eyes come alight. But instead of feeling shame, or fear, he suddenly felt so alive, more alive than he'd felt in... who knows.
He turned back to Tehodis as though with a renewed sense of purpose. "We'll figure it out. I know we will."
Post by Tehodis Kitai on Nov 29, 2016 23:56:56 GMT -7
After that moment, there was a distance between Endless and Tehodis that simply wasn't going to be breached - not anytime soon, anyways. They would still come to the beach everyday at sunset. They would sit with one another... But there would be a strained kind of silence. They would speak a few words, Endless would try to help Tehodis remember, but none of it seemed real.
The only thing that felt real to her, was the way her stomach was tight with desire to go Home. Where Home was, she did not yet know... But it was somewhere far away. And there, she believed, she would find answers. It didn't feel right to say goodbye to Endless, not after all he had tried to do for her... And so she didn't.
One day, she just didn't go to the beach.
She thought it would be easier for both of them. He wouldn't blame himself for anything, she wouldn't have to pretend to be sad when she really felt like their relationship was a fiction. They could simply part ways and move on to their next lives. Tehodis would follow her instincts to wherever they lead her... And Endless could explore why the moon made him so fulfilled. They could leave everything behind like some strange dream.
Maybe -- just maybe -- they would meet again someday. Some distant day in the future. When they would both be better prepared for friendship.
The skin OTHERWORLD was made by JAWN of WICKED WONDERLAND.
FORTUNA-RPG was created by MELLIE. Images belong to their respective artists. All codes and scripts belong to their respective coders. Please DO NOT take anything without the owners' permission.
