MOTHER | CREATOR

❂⭃ @creatrix-mea asked: ⥷❂ ❂⭃ “Is it worth the wait?” ( from ana! ) ⥷❂

Florence + the Machine Starters

⤛⌠❂⌡⤜

"Worth the wait...?"

Byron lifted his head, quiet and contemplating. The way she asked that almost felt foreboding, but he knew better than to speak out of turn. This felt like a trap, and he would not put it past her to set one. He still wasn't sure what had happened to her, didn't understand why she walked the path that she did...

What happened, in that time when everything fell apart...? She felt like a different person from the woman that used to sit by Elwin's side. That she had run right into the arms of the very nation that had destroyed them... At first he'd wanted to believe she didn't have a choice, complicated as the situation was and most likely just as much a victim as everyone else was. Perhaps that was still the case, and the changes brought about by time were the result of her trying to adjust to her knew situation. No way out, so best to make the best of it. After all, that's what he had done, wasn't it?

And yet... He couldn't help but feel like there was more to it than that. Without answers, everything coming from anyone of station was most assuredly a trap of some sort or another.

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐄𝐓 𝐕𝐎𝐈𝐂𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐄𝐑: You should dispose of him, too. Now you have the chance. He had always been loyal to his late brother and his ideals, had he not? To her and her reign, Byron could very well become a threat if she was not careful. And yet, he sat at her side of the long table, which had been moved to the other end of the grand hall not a long time ago. Anabella poured herself a small goblet of wine and glanced at him while gesturing with the carafe at his own goblet. " They will bend the knee and smile, " she mused with a quiet, almost exhausted tone, lacing her words as she spoke. " Swearing me their loyalty, and behind my back, they will gossip and scheme, just like they have done with Elwin. "

And Elwin had tolerated it or had not even seen it due to his long absences in which he had left his wife in charge of the castle and the duchy itself. Until now, the seven high houses had got away with their questionable sense of loyalty but with her as the new reigning monarch for the moment, this would not be enough. She did not trust them. She had seen too many of their second faces to be foolish enough to think this time it would be different. Not even the imperial influence would protect her from slander and betrayal, as Anabella Rosfield knew.

" Is it worth it to welcome them in Rosalith Castle and hear them out? "

The corner of her mouth twitched into the faintest hint of a smile. She should not trust him either—her heart was too soft sometimes. And sometimes, Anabella despised herself for that very fact. Another question crossed her mind while she studied his face for nothing particular: Was it worth waiting for him to turn against her?

he  cannot  fail.  he  cannot  humiliate  him. 

❛  yes,  ma'am,  ❜      sephiroth  answers,  dutifully.  it  is  not  the  first  time  he's  been  called  the  pride  of  the  lab,  but  these  days  he  prefers  the  term  GUINEA  PIG,  or  even  LAB  RAT.  it only  seems  appropriate.  then  again,  he  doesn't  envy  the  rats  that  hojo  brings  to  the  lab.  they  are  usually  induced  with  an  obscene  amount  of  mako  and  then  brought  here,  where  sephiroth  can  thankfully  END  THEIR  SUFFERING. 

at  her  question,  sephiroth  pauses  in  thought.  what  was  the  greatest  beast  he  ever  slaughtered?  there  were  so  many,  and  many  of  which  didn't  even  have  names  or  he  didn't  have  time  to  learn  them.  sephiroth  only  learned  that  it  would  kill  him,  if  he  did  not  kill  it  first. 

sephiroth  remains  still,  but  true.  his  eyes  do  not  waver,  nor  does  he  make  a  sound  throughout  the  hesitation.  best  choose  something. 

❛  KING  BEHEMOTH  infused  with  the  underwater  EMERALD  WEAPON,  ma'am.  ❜      to  this  day,  that  battle  still  plagues  him.  the  professor  equipped  sephiroth  with  underwater  materia,  to  help  him  breathe  for  a  lengthier  time  underwater—except  the  professor  failed  to  tell  sephiroth  that  the  poor  beast  had  not  been  fed  in  days.  the  longer  he  spent  underwater,  the  hungrier  it  became.  the  hungrier  it  became,  the  more  its  tendrils  dedicated  themselves  to  holding  him  down  beneath  the  surface. 

𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄, 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐓 𝐇𝐎𝐉𝐎 𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒. A silent nod cam in his response, and of course it did—the boy would not lie to her and boast over accomplishments he had never achieved. Slaying a beast infused with a weapon's power was quite a feat and deserved recognition where it was due. Not many, or any, for that matter, would have been able to do it.

And it spoke volumes of the scientist's work, even though she had been sceptical of it in the beginning. She turned back to Sephiroth and regarded him.

A hint of a smile tugged at the corner's of her mouth, and she idly gestured with her right hand while continuing: " You have done well. I assume this accomplishment will be surpassed in the near future? " For nothing was worse than stagnation—that was at least what she had been told by her mother so many years ago. " We expect great things from you, Sephiroth. And so far you haven't disappointed us. We would like to keep the record of successes in your training. "

There would be no use in breaking him now and losing all the progress they had made because they were too ambitious. " We are done here for today, and I want you to join me for dinner. Surely, no one will have any objections to my invitation. "

"They fear me, and respect me. both can be done."

Because how else would they gain such treasures, such luxuries. Outside of conquest. The kingdom of ash is named that for a reason.

" 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐃𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄, 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐌𝐀𝐉𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐘. " And if the empress was honest with herself, the conversation was similarly exhausting to her as it was for him. Bothersome and slow. Without any solution in sight.

The truth was, she was not necessarily keen on fighting, but they could not allow him to march further into their territory further. In doing so, they too would lose respect and authority. They had to act before it was too late.

It was most of a comment that said what he thought of her own intelligence. But at the very least she should be smart enough to pick up on that.

𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃. Perhaps he had reigned over Waloed for ages yet the nature of rulers and the divine seemed to escape him still. The monarchs had to protect their land and their sovereignty. Not the people. But she could not fault him—he was a usurper and not a true-born king. A beast walking in finer attire, not unlike Hugo or Shiva when she had still been alive.

" Perhaps that is true, but you are an invading force, Your Majesty, " Anabella replied. " The peasantry fears you. Tales of you have ridden across the strait and our lands a long time ago. "

#𝓐𝓜𝓐𝓤𝓡𝓞𝓣𝓘𝓝𝓔:  I pray we meet again. If not in this life, then perhaps another. Whensoever it should be, I trust it will be a most joyous reunion.

And boring.

"It is a pretense to willing time away, there is of no true interest between the nation of Waloe and your own."

"but nobility must play their parts. It is the responsibility given to those with power."

𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐀𝐒𝐇 𝐖𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍. It was nothing Anabella would have expected to hear, and the woman tilted her head to the side—a faint smile gracing her lips. " And here I would have thought the famous king of Waloed cannot wait to expand his conquest to the distant lands of Storm. But it does not matter whether you stall time or no. Sanbreque's decision still stands. "

People could be bred and food regrown. With the Grand Duchy joining the empire, their supply of food had been secured and the Black Shields stood ready to march against the army of the foreign kingdom.

There was really nothing to say , but political meetings were happening and Sleipnir had been doing most of the talking. Like he was designed to.

in honesty, the king of Waloed is just, bored. Almost apathetic.

𝐒𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐓, 𝐈𝐃𝐋𝐘 𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐆𝐔𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐋. What they were exactly arguing about, Anabella could not tell any longer, as it had grown into a back and forth of irrelevancy. No unit would be moved today, that much was clear—why they did not adjourn the meeting, was beyond her, however.

Perhaps neither of them wanted to appear weak in the presence of the enemy.