The Love we share will make us Stronger

 “ Kanetsugu. It seem’s my absence has not taught you anymore humility. ” She’s kidding .. probably. Hard to tell -- her tone is always even. However;

        A fluid movement; chucks a hard amethyst crystal right at him-!

 ☾    –  The walls do shake and the air is just as violent. Her psyche pricks as his conscious blares with his power just a little out of his control. He answers her question without words.

But she does not flinch or falter. Her smile is still there; her calm is placid and gentle as always. Kanetsugu needs to know she will be here as an anchor when things are out of hand. She can feel his guilt and confusion. Sorrow is in his words and in the waves of his energy. 

What he did was for Illusio – cruel fate picked him to save their kingdom even if it meant … the death of her dear brother and his mentor. 

      And he will continue to be it’s savior and it’s leader. 

For Illusio – for the covenant of true love and justice beyond all other things!

“ Kanetsugu .. enough. ” Her words are gentle but firm. He needs to be reminded of what control is. “ My duty comes before all things including my physical time in this world.. ”

Her eyes close – her voice trembles just beyond the suave honey tone. 

“ You are warlord now. You will not crumble in my absence. You can’t. You won’t. Remember it is Illusio and the acts of Just Love you stand for. Not me … and not my brother. Should I perish both of those things will be your of your utmost importance. ”

    “What if I no longer know what that is?!” His voice cracks and with it the room around him clatters like thunder. Admitting to it means he has broken the seal on his emotions, the thoughts he’s been trying to push away so desperately since his lord’s death. One by one the sliding screens around him crumple like paper to the sound of splintering wood as his control slips away.

    “How can I stand in the name of honor when I do not know what that means? I–I thought we had always been doing the right thing, but every day I realize more and more that we were only doing what was right for ourselves!” How much of Illusio’s prosperity was built on the suffering of others? For every minute he spent as Warlord it seemed there was something new that had been hidden from him, that he’d never been told– “How much injustice have I committed believing myself to be in the right?”

“ Kanetsugu ...” Aya waits for him to finish before stepping closer - a hand reaching out until cool fingers rest at the center of his forehead. Concentration. A point to focus on. “ This is what I’ve been trying to teach you. Have you not been paying attention? Love .. is not set in stone. It’s a painful and an ugly trial before it’s benevolence shines through. ” 

“ You who has been experiencing so much insecurity need to understand what it is in your own way. Not what’s been set there already. My dear brother had his own perspective of what love is and crumbled beneath his failure. You will not do the same .. but it’s up to you to find out how. You already know what he did wrong, what needs to be done, and do not doubt yourself. You see what happens when you do. ”

“ .. ”

Answered with tight lip silence. Even when sheltered in Illusio he hardly said a word to Lady Aya. The moment his blade sparked a war it seems as if he lost his voice to grief and fear.

In this case it was more fear than anything else. Now in the enemies hands they can do whatever they wanted to him. The spotlight had him in literal chains. Funny how the pressure during a battle could not make him so much as flinch – a Cragspur general, he knew how to direct himself and his men in action.

But diplomacy? No; his older brothers took care of it. He was the third in line after all. Whatever diplomacy fell to him were small business or already taken care of.

☾    –  “ Dear, your silence can betray you. ” Aya finally spoke from her seat. She couldn’t speak for him anymore least the dragon warlord takes it as a crime of some sort.

“ …I’ve…already said what I needed to say when I came bearing a seal of warfare. ” Voice gruff and a little hoarse from lack of use; Ujikuni was going to keep this as general as possible. They can’t punish him for what can’t be said after all.        

               ❝ Lady Aya, with all due respect - your charge is a man and a warlord’s son at that, ❞ he chides her, voice slicing through the air. he’s aware of the coldness in his voice, like steel, like desolation - wearing the mantle of a blood-soaked warlord. a dragon’s quiet anger is far deadlier than flame after all. ❝ Let him defend himself for he has intruded upon my kingdom and thus understand the consequences of his and his father’s actions, c

               there was a story of a war years ago of a general whose brother had been held captive. the boy was a young, held as a peace offering, a hostage -          - not even a warrior and was trapped in illusio’s cold halls for a year. illusio dealt in lies, that was what he had learned, lies and trickery and illusions like what the kingdom has been named for. he had lost something there, plagued with nightmares for the next two years. 

              illusio lies, aya lies but this man - this warrior has not the cunning for lies nor trickery. and his honesty will cost him and his father dearly. he thinks of his lord’s missing arm, the Lady Hiroko’s quiet resignition at the death of her retainer. what Ujiyasu has done was declared war upon the nation of Ransei and Dragnor … well, Dragnor always keeps its promises. 

              a region of endless war, that was what Ransei has been and his eyes are aflame when Ran asks: ❝ Then you are aware of what you have promised? ❞ it would be a war until one side or the other surrendered and Dragnor has only ever surrendered once -         - through the will of Arceus. there would not be another. he gestures for his retainers to step forward, swords at their sides forged of iron and dragonscale. that would do nicely. 

               he turns towards Aya. ❝ I trust that you have Lord Ujiyasu’s current location? ❞ he asks, hardly daring to believe the words that he was about to utter. but this is what he must, this is Dragnor’s justice, the justice of dragons and the justice of war and Ujikuni has signed away his life the moment he declared himself for his father at the onset of the war. Ran is a warlord after all. 

Her words are always true. The holy covenant of true love that guides her hand has no room for lies which leads to downfall. Like the path her dear brother choose. 

      Her nature however will rebuke anything that stands in the way of it. 

Even if it means making an intervention for this boy. Should his life be in real danger she will not hesitate to save the son of close ally. Loyalty for allies above all else.

“ Do not kill him. ” Aya speaks up anyway, eyes measuring his retainers and their weapons. Suave bell tone turns to ice in one breath. “ Including any wounds that will prove to be fatal until his father makes an appearance. ”

“ .. Thank you Lady Aya. For everything. ” But he knows he’ll step forward anyways. A fallen kingdom rests on his shoulders. His brothers are scattered, his father was in exile, and Ransei will ask for some kind of payment because of his rash decision. He holds out his left hand with grit edging his voice. “ The mountains have my spirit. My body is molded from Cragspur clay, bones gilded in iron n’ stone, and Hojo blood running through my veins. Nothing they can do can hurt me. ”