2023-01-05: The Curse of Light
- Log: The Curse of Light
- Cast: Elise Riesdale, Seraph Harmaus
- Where: Zoara Badlands
- Date: January 13, 2023
- Summary: Harmaus, changed, finds his way back to Elise.
<Pose Tracker> Elise Riesdale has posed.
Night falls eventually, no matter whether you're on a mountain, or in the lowest levels of the overrun cities whose names are made notorious all around Filgaia. The main difference is if you'd be in a position where you would see it.
In Elise's case, the geodesic dome that lays out on the top of the mountain gives a full view of the stars, far away enough from Guild Galad for its light pollution to barely affect the view.
And what does a queen do when it is night?
She sleeps. If being still on her throne is 'sleeping'. The Hellions that count this mountain as theirs display more typical habits, curling up like animals if their form is the same, or sleeping mundanely on beds they've either made themselves, or stuffed with dried debris of the plants that actually are here, rather than be a product of Elise's illusions. There's worse beds to be had in many of the poorer quarters of Guild Galad, after all, and if losing a hold on your humanity was all you needed to stay, it's a fair bargain.
The open garden palace is quiet. Water burbles in the fountains, and the occasional bat or nocturnal bird flits by. Some gold light is cast by some overhanging lights suspended by shepherd's hook poles, flickering like oil lamps.
Would Harmaus come out of the shadows, or come in proudly? He would be welcomed the same as ever, as a proper guest.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.
Far, far from here, a transformed Harmaus had fallen into a bed of roses and had there vanished.
His plan, to force Lucia to awaken to her 'true self' had failed utterly. In the face of such Malevolence, he himself had succumbed to its pull. And in the end, the Domain had been cleansed.
There had been no sign of Harmaus, then or after. But one would be foolish indeed to think the Seraph dead.
At long last, when this night has settled well into its rhythm, there comes the presence of another a tap-tap-tapping into the hall of the Rosenqueen.
Harmaus, without question, looks ill. A Seraph's nature is at odds with Malevolence, but now it thrums in his veins. It's a poison that is eating him alive.
It's a poison he has long awaited.
"My... lady," he calls out, settling near to the throne upon which Elise sits. "At long last, I returns!"
<Pose Tracker> Elise Riesdale has posed.
If Elise's world had not been blown open by so many things since her awakening, she would have assumed Harmaus to be dead. However, the Seraph's tenacity and devotion to his cause made the Rose Queen question if such an end would truly spell the last anyone would see of Harmaus.
Whether it would be a form that would fully appreciate Elise's willingness to fold once he had seemingly fell in battle remained to be seen, but she had held up her promise.
The soft tap tap tap of velvet paws opens the statue's eyelids, the red irises gently clacking into place from where they rested, rolled up in her head.
"... Seraph Harmaus." Elise holds out a hand to caress the feline Seraph's head, but at the last moment, she abstains.
He finds no fault with her, even as he suffers with Malevolence's infection within him. It would be a mistake to say that the Rose Queen does not hold any sympathy for Harmaus's state. "It would be advised, for the sake of your mission, that you excise this excess Malevolence from your self. The time that you needed that boost is over, and now, you must rest. You have gained the power that you needed; you need not a Hellion's touch. Lose yourself to mindlessness, and you will waste the precious energy we procured. We cannot do that again. We must not, or we further Filgaia's ruin with our own carelessness."
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.
One might not be entirely mistaken in assuming that someone like Harmaus was far too gone to die, or that even death would not be enough to stop one with such determination.
Indeed, here he stands now, though the sight of him suggests well enough that his condition is not at all a good or pleasant one. At present he yet retains his own form and not the shape he had assumed upon succumbing at last to the Domain's pressure.
There are few who Harmaus would permit caress him as if he were in fact a cat. In playing the role he does now, is even Elise...?
He fixes those amber eyes of his on her.
"Nay, my lady," says Harmaus. "I sheds this power not. Now that I grasps it, sees I much and more. Wrong was I. Lucia... it was not 'Lord of Calamity'. Anitia is gone. Another rises, rises yet! Hears I clearly," he continues, staring at Elise as if to stare through her.
"Lord of Calamity exists, yet. Seeks I Lord of Calamity... and seeks I Althena's destruction!"
<Pose Tracker> Elise Riesdale has posed.
'Nay, my lady, I sheds this power not.'
".... I see." Elise shifts to the other side of her throne, crossing her legs. "Well, steadfast Seraph, your strength of will is commendable. I had thought that, if I would see you again, it would not be as the elegant creature you came as when we first met. However, even you have your limits, as dedicated as you are to using this feline form. My blindness to the fact that Malevolence is not as kind to Seraphs as it is to mortalkind is a fault of mine; for mortals, it draws us in stark relief, cutting through the unnecessary layers we build to protect ourselves from those who delight in ruling over us. For Seraphs... I understand now it can harm your clarity. You are already devoted to your purpose and existence; there is no need to be 'rescued' from the savage, stagnant banality of society."
What is a Hellion, and why is it so different for Seraphkind? "You... no, *we* underestimated the Drifters, as well as the bonds that tie Lucia to mortalkind. But that is what makes it fascinating to challenge them, is it not? A hero or heroine without challenge is simply a farmer's child that stumbled into wealth. It promotes no search of the self." She gestures, bringing an ottoman to slide over for the poor Seraph to rest on, if he desires.
"If you wish to visit this Lord, I will not stop you, but, neither can I assist you." She gives Harmaus a sad smile. "There was a little bat that came in here, worried that I was to continue leeching off the marrow of this world, be it through the Earth Primarch or directly. I gave her my word that, as it stands, I do not intend to continue." She smiles. ".... I am honoring her request. As corrupt as this world is, it is the world my knight and I, as well as the subjects of my domain, call theirs. Tell me; would this Lord rule Lunar the same as Althena?"
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.
"Jaeja. You learns much of Seraphim in my absense? What learns you such? Ah... well," murmurs Harmaus, after eyeing Elise for the moment. "Understands you much and yet, little, little! Ah, but speaks I only truth, my queen! Even I learns much and more of myself... much and more since I awakens!"
Look into his eyes. Look, and realize that this is no longer someone who can be reasoned with -- indeed, if Harmaus had ever been one who would be able to listening to reason.
He avails himself of the ottoman, for the power that circulates in his veins is painful and taxing and fain would he care to set himself down.
Particularly after so long a journey from the place where he had fallen to this place, the Rose Queen's demense.
"Ja, well..." Harmaus rumbles, setting himself down upon the cushion and tending at last to the necessary grooming that must be done. "It matters me not. Sees I clearly now what needs doing. I comes to you one last time, queen of roses... I comes asking a single question."
He sets down his paw and looks her in the eye once again.
"Travels you with me to Silver Star? Or stays you here, among the Blue? Seeks I Lord of Calamity. Seeks I Lord and petitions them my quest. Seeks I not ruler..."
"...seeks I 'destroyer'."
<Pose Tracker> Elise Riesdale has posed.
"Some, yes." Elise fans her fingers out on either side of her chair. "I do not consider your words to be lies, either. However, those who eat the lotus shall claim it tastes sweet, even as they forget all sense of matters outside of it. The Malevolence can nourish you, but it is a hot wind that shall drive you past your goals. I am the Rose Queen, but... I am also at the mercy of the winds of that passion inside my chest."
She would want it no other way, but the whole experience has made her wonder if it may not be the truest expression of the self.
Just... one of many.
"But. Your mind is set." Elise considers, red eyes studying Harmaus's resting form on the ottoman. "I will not trouble you with debating you further; this is a path I helped create for you, after all."
There is one final question he means to ask, however.
"Speak it, then," she gestures, palm upturned.
"...seeks I 'destroyer'.'
The roots of his own passion are fully within him.
Her red lips split in a small, considerate smile. "That is quite the question." The queen closes her eyes, her chin lowering.
Is it worth casting Ruth's blood on her roses once more, over a Seraph's ambitions?
".... You have traveled long to ask for my assisstance once more, but I am afraid I must politely refuse, to that end." Her eyelids slowly raise. "My involvement will hasten you to your final transformation, which will spell the end of your journey. While staying here to rest your weary bones within my domain will likely do the same, I imagine you will eventually need to hasten on to your next task." She steps from her throne with the soft rustle of silk against stone tile. She hovers a careful hand to touch against the Seraph's head, realizing it may be for the last time. "Until then, rest your body. I can send for my servants to fetch you any sustenance you need."
A Queen must always be gracious to her guests, after all.
<Pose Tracker> Seraph Harmaus has posed.
"Yes, yes," Harmaus replies to Elise wearily, eyes slitted. "And them that walks in darkness knows not of the light!" But he calms after a moment, easing back from the brink he approaches. "...Understanding has I now. Whatever and wherever it guides me, I minds it not. I, as all things... I obeys only mine own fate. As leaf is caught on the wind, I follows higher order!"
Malevolence is the true nature of the world. Of that, he has no longer merely convinced -- no, he knows it to be true. Believes with such an iron, bone-deep conviction that it would take an act of god to sway him.
And, ah, is it not 'god' against which he has laid his grievances?
His mind is set. There is but one end for him, as many have noted already, one end remaining once the corruption had set in.
Though, truly, such an end had been set centuries before. The window in which he could have been swayed from this path closed a long, long time ago.
Elise will not travel with him on that final journey.
"...Ah."
Once, such a refusal would have been met with violent fury. One might well think it would animate him now, as consumed by his passions as he has become. But Harmaus has gained a particular understanding in recent days, courtesy of his unfolding corruption. The fire that burns in him does not burn in others -- even those who have seen what the truth would ask of them first hand.
And that, he has decided, is alright. There is one who he knows will do the right thing. Together, they will make them see, and he will be there to meet them at the end. He knows what he must do, and do it he will.
He closes his eyes as he continues to wash himself. "My lady does a disservice in the same she does a service," he remarks, as if almost amused by this 'contradiction'. "Ja, well. My way is clear. My lady may join me, if changes her mind? But for kindness... yes, yes, avails I much of it! Much strength needs I for journey ahead. Misled, thinks I my lady... but remembers I also this kindness..."
He will settle down after a while. Seraphim do not need to sleep, as such. But the body has a way of affecting the mind, and his weariness feels as if it were bone-deep.
No, the rest he claims will avail him but little, but it will be enough to see him on his way.
<Pose Tracker> Elise Riesdale has posed.
The rising ire in Harmaus simply causes Elise to smile with the easy contentment of someone enjoying the debate, as she rests her cheek against one upturned hand. "Your previous venture did not bare the fruit you desired, but I see now that it would have been a bitter fruit indeed. Lucia was not the Lord of Calamity you needed. But she is not the only one. As you have said, you've still gained in understanding. As the wind guides you, my influence will only shorten the span of time you have to act."
Elise's refusal is taken with grace. It does not go unnoticed, even if Elise's refusal was spoken without fear. "My role as the Rose Queen is not without its limits. The further I tread away from this garden, the more likely rot shall set in. I saw that, as we fought the Drifters that came to the aid of their friends. If you seek a power of destruction to break the chains that bind your world, there is naught I can do to help you further than I already have."
'My lady does a disservice in the same she does a service.'
"That is the core of a Hellion, truly," Elise says, tilting her head forward with an amused smile.
She is a queen, but despite being in full control of her appearance, her height was never changed. Harmaus's shape, as it is now, is the only one Elise could tower over, if she wished.
Instead, Elise sits on the ottoman beside Harmaus, and if he allows, she will stroke his head gently, as if coaxing him to rest. ".... I will hope for an end to your journey, where you find the satisfaction you so feverishly searched for. For now, dream of it, as you lay among this perfumed garden among the stars, where none shall dare to touch you."
She does not say that he is free to come back, even if it would be true. The path of this comet of light is set; he can no more retread his steps than Filgaia stop revolving around the sun.
Such is the curse of Harmaus, brilliant Seraph of Light.