#artemede

Xandria found them like this.

I don't know if it's been clear I've been thinking about these three and their dynamic a lot lately, but unfortunately I go back to work tomorrow so I had to get something with all three of them out before then.

Kynthia caught him.

He fell in love instantly.

And realized that if he had fallen off the ledge, she must have, too. It was then that he remembered he had wings, and tried to fly them to safety. Unfortunately, his close proximity and mad flapping hit Kynthia's wings, threw off her rhythm, and sent them both plummeting.

A tipsy Xandria had to save them.

He still lovingly tells the tale of how he met Kynthia, and Artemede always hides her face in shame at her idiot brother.

Artemede markers test but Vexi's blues are dying.

Devos: I have something to confess

Devos: I'm the leader of the forsworn

It's generally discomfort between Artemede and Kynthia.

So the two want to like each other, mostly for Apolon's sake since he's caught in the middle. Kynthia respects that he's soulbound to his sister and they have been ever since they learned what Soulbinding was. That the two have never been without the other.

This is sort of Artemede's issue. She of course wants Apolon to be happy but she's somewhat jealous of Kynthia and is afraid of abandonment. That Apolon will just take more and more time for Kynthia and drift away from her.

It doesn't help that people LIKE Kynthia, she's subconously looking for any validation about Kynthia. But Thanikos likes her, she also protected Thales in Maldraxxus so he of course likes her.

It gets worse when Xandria and Thanikos are on medical leave. Because Artemede has the burden of being Paragon Proxy, so she has less time to spend with Apolon, thus of course he hangs out with Kynthia more.

She's jealous that he does have someone else to fall back on when she's not there. But she has no one.

Artemede is also aroace it's something she feels a sense of loneliness in sometimes. In a romance focused world she does feel this pang like she's missing something by not being romantically involved or having any interest to. Especially when her soulbind with Apolon does subconously rub it in. She can feel his love for Kynthia but knows it isn't hers, she's also uncomfortably aware with what they get up to. And that's too much information on her brother's personal life.

Artemede is also a very reserved person, yes she's friends with Thanikos and even sees him as another brother. But this whole situation with Kynthia has kind of forced her to realise she doesn't have her own life. It's always been a section of Apolon's. She doesn't have any connections that are her own.

He was the one to sus that Xandria had the plague while they were in Maldraxxus. He raised it to his sister that they both needed to keep an eye on their Paragon no matter the cost.

"Her hair's falling out, she hides it with her helmet, but I saw stands caught in her breast plate. Her breathing wheezes every second breath, and she's checking her mouth by wiping it every five minutes or so-- She's also lost five feathers since this morning."

Now they know confronting Xandria would do nothing, she would not abandon her disciples in Maldraxxus even if she was a corpse. They also knew this is why she chose two hands.

So the twins had a system that one of them would always be watching her. They made mental notes of her health and hid their dread as it got worse.

When back in Bastion they hoped she would improve now around clean air. But of course Apolon cannot see inside Xandria to know how bad her body was affected.

So when she went to the bathroom that day Apolon immediately told his sister with a serious certainty that he only brings out when he forsees something horrific. "Three minutes."

Sure enough three minutes later they heard the loud thud of Xandria falling but already had Vesiphone on the line.

Apolon & Artemede

I think with these two I've now redesigned all of the hands. Unless I'm forgetting someone I might be.

Some stuff I have for them:

They are identical twins. Asention worked against the kyrian idiology of forget your past here because as aspirants and ascended they still look the same. As aspirants it was impossible to tell them apart.

They don't remember that they where twin in life as well. They also died together.

They are both deathly allergic to peanuts.

Artemede is trans. She transitioned openly when the crest of ascention gave her a female body. Before that she was still in the 'everyone wishes they where a woman somtimes right' stage of figuring it out.

They are both archers. They train other kyrians in archery as archery is a very diffcult skill for Kyrian (as they're expected to fly with a bow). Most of this training starts as aspirants.

When Xandria was off stick, Artemede became paragon proxy and Apolon remained hand. Should something ever happen to Xandria its agreed Artemede will become paragon. However, with the return of Thanikos it's unsure if this rule remains.

The two often have a playful rivalry with Thanikos however that became soured when Xandria chose them as Thanikos' replacement. Things became heated between him and Apolon. They eventually do all work it out along with Xandria.

Apolon got the scar on his forhead from his own arrow. (He pulled it out incorrectly). Artemede threatens to tell Kynthia.

Apolon used to sleep around a lot before he met Kynthia. The laurel on his armour was scratched in by Kynthia as their soulbind proposal.

Artemede is sex repulsed aro ace.

(I was talking with Vale and was like I should write this world-building down.)

So with most Kyrian Temples the inner politics and lines of succession are pretty simple. Should something happen to the Paragon then the Hand automatically becomes the Paragon upon the Paragon's death.

At first glance however, the Temple of Courage seems rather unorthodox but this is not the case. There are few things that get cleared up with explanations.

The Echos of Courage

The Echos of Courage specifically refer to the Echos of Dutus and Agthia who were former Paragons of Courage. They exist mostly to offer Xandria optional advice that she can choose to ignore. They cannot make choices for Xandria as much as Dutus' echo wishes she could.

Xandria doesn't really like using the Echos as she knows even asking a simple question will have Dutus on her ass and Agthia being 'Be nice.' Xandria and Dutus clash a lot with their ideals but occasionally Dutus does agree with her.

Dutus gets irate with Xandria whenever Xandria asks questions on succession. As Dutus' loves to remind Xandria that Xandria is not part of their succession, as Agthia was Dutus' hand, but Xandria wasn't even a Disciple of Courage when she was chosen. It has been pointed out to Dutus that Aella was killed in the same battle as Agthia and of course Agthia had not had time to appoint a new Hand, yet Dutus is stubborn.

The Three Hands of Courage

What throws Kyrian now is there's three Hands of Courage. Thanikos, Artemede and Apolon. So 'whos next in the line or succession?'

In simple terms it's Thanikos. Should Xandria die Thanikos is to be the next Paragon of Courage. However he is still unsure if he is worthy of this with his current condition. It's Thanikos because he was the 'original' Hand of Courage.

After Thanikos it is Artemede. It was decided when the Twin-Hands where chosen by Xandria that Artemede is a little more elevated than Apolon.

The reason for this is the same reason Xandria chose two hands after Thanikos: Xandria was preparing for her own death. She knew she was sick and honestly didn't expect to survive this conflict. It was also uncertain if Thanikos would survive his treatment with Vesiphone. So her wishes were that Artemede would become Paragon and Apolon her Hand. Xandria did not care that this would break the rule that Paragon and Hand cannot be soulbinds.

Now these wishes still remain even though Xandria is in decent health after recovering from the Maldraxxi Plague and Thanikos' body restored.