#caelina

1. My heart, being hungry ("Voracious") X'shasi Kilntreader (a miqo'te Warrior of Light) & X'moru Tia (a miqo'te adventurer) × "My heart, being hungry, feeds on food" by Edna St. Vincent Millay 

2. With greater wit, or better, wealth ("Bargain") Caelina Valeria (a Garlean Warrior of Light) ♦ Nero Scaeva × "The Bronze Cavalier" by Alexander Pushkin

3. Why should you worship her? Her you surpass ("Lost") Emet-Selch & Warrior of Light; Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light × "Hero and Leander" by Christopher Marlowe An AU where the Fourteenth Councilmember's shade was found upon a reflection and uplifted to their previous station, as befits an Ascian.

4. And to knock at my heart is to beat on my grave ("Shifting Blame") Fray Myste/Odette de Dzemael (an elezen Warrior of Light) × "Parted" by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

5. A Fear that in the deep night starts awake ("Vault") X'shasi Kilntreader/Baro Llyonesse (a legacy-only miqo'te Warrior of Light); past X'shasi Kilntreader/Haurchefant Greystone × "Interim" by Edna St. Vincent Millay 

6. Go, therefore, like the eye of an angel to awaken his courage ("First Steps") Odette de Dzemael & Colette de Dzemael (an elezen Warrior of Light; Odette's younger twin); Aymeric de Borel/Odette de Dzemael × "The Water Flower" by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore CW: body shaming; fatphobia; narcissistic mothers.

7. returned, to your place of dreaming ("Forgiven") Aris Greensorrow (a viera adventurer) × "Dear Dja Baby Boori" by Lisa Bellear

8. To lay down their reckless heads ("Rencounter"; a free-prompt day) Zenos yae Galvus × "Twelve" by Aleksandr Blok "Shasi sas Intemperatus," an AU where by necessity X'shasi joins forces with Gaius van Baelsar to defeat Lahabrea and is declared Viceroy of Eorzea.

9. Daisies spring from damnèd seeds ("Hesitate") X'shasi Kilntreader ♦ Urianger Augurelt × "Weeds" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

10. Now flooded with moonlight ("Foster") Gaius van Baelsar/Midas nan Garlond × "Who is Happy in Russia?" by Nikolai Nekrasov

11. I breathed my soul back into me ("Snuff") X'shasi Kilntreader/V'jaela Firebird (an Echo-blessed miqo'te adventurer) × "Renascence" by Edna St. Vincent Millay CW: Drug use; breath play; adult content.

12. And not in vain you’ve sent me light ("Fingers Crossed") Caelina Valeria ♦ Nero Scaeva × "Angel" by Alexander Pushkin

13. We shall die apart, shall we not? That is what you wanted! ("Wax") Odette de Dzemael & Colette de Dzemael; past Fray Myste/Odette de Dzemael × "Elegy (You, who have taken all)" by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

14. Who will measure Uffern? ("Scour") Melloria Hathaar (a miqo'te Warrior of Light) × "The First Address of Taliesin" by Taliesin the bard

15. To be flame in the heat ("Travail"; a free-prompt day) Sidurgu Orl/Warrior of Light × "It's an Honour to be Human" by L. Khuushaan A roleswap AU where Fray lives and Sid dies, becoming the player's Dark Knight mentor.

16. And find me at dawn in a desolate place ("Jitter") X'shasi Kilntreader & Regula van Hydrus × "Departure" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

17. Brought to earth the arrogant brow ("Obeisant") X'shasi Silverhair (an Echo-blessed miqo'te adventurer who is not yet the Warrior of Light) × "Dirge" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

18. You're gone away, and I'm in desert ("Wilt") X'shasi Kilntreader/Zenos yae Galvus × "You're Gone Away" by Aleksandr Blok

19. And we will all the pleasures prove ("Radiant") "Solus zos Galvus"/Aquila jen Novius (a Garlean engineer who will later incarnate as Caelina Valeria) × "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe

20. Thy mark is on me! I am not the same ("Bisect") X'shasi Kilntreader × "The Suicide" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

21. Your other sister and my other soul ("Crunch") X'shasi Kilntreader & "Minfilia" (Ryne Waters) × "Ode to Silence" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

22. This red gown will make a shroud ("Detritus"; a free-prompt day) X'shasi Kilntreader & Fray Myste × "The Shroud" by Edna St. Vincent Millay An AU where the mysterious voice heard beginning in "Prelude in Violet" belongs to a different benefactor: one who allows the Warrior of Light to rewrite history.

23. And where her glances fall, there cities burn ("Parched") Menelaus (an Ancient and member of the Convocation of Fourteen who will one day incarnate as X'shasi Kilntreader) × "Helen" by Euripedes

24. A look all veiled in blue ("Unctuous") Aymeric de Borel/Odette de Dzemael × "Flower of Childhood" by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

25. I knew her for a little ghost ("Trust") X'shasi Kilntreader & Lensha Hathaar (a legacy miqo'te Warrior of Light from a timeline where she failed in her duties) × "The Little Ghost" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

26. And all have gone to sea in the wind ("Slosh") Carvallain de Gorgagne/Odette de Dzemael × "The Roses of Saadi" by Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

27. The easy shadow of night is softly laid ("Palaver") Emet-Selch/Caelina Valeria × "Remembrance" by Alexander Pushkin

28. My needle to your north abruptly swerved ("Attune") X'shasi Kilntreader/Baro Llyonesse × "Sonnet III (No lack of counsel)" by Edna St. Vincent Millay

29. To live again, undying! Aye ("Deleterious"; a free-prompt day) Fray Myste × "Last Hope" by Paul Verlaine Archive Warning: Major character death.

“But say the word,” the Ascian greeted her, “and we could be elsewhere.” “Are you really so keen to return to the Crystarium?” she wondered. “Not at all,” Emet-Selch said. “If I am to be honest with you, as we did so pledge, to see the Crystal Tower on the skyline here is galling. But the accommodations are comfortable.” Caelina laughed. “Could it be that Your Radiance longs for the comfort of a feather bed?” She turned her head to look at him, her amusement disrupting his pouty moue. “I seem to recall that the rootbeds of the Greatwood were sufficient to your needs not so long ago.” “Simply because I can sleep anywhere does not mean I have no preferences of my own.” He glanced down, away from her, to tug at the hems of his gloves. “You will not come away with me, then?” he said. “Why are you so eager to be shut of this place?” “Forgive me, but after the welcome I received from your friends upon our introduction before the Tower, I am not entirely at ease among them.” Caelina sighed. “Do you think those relations would improve if you spirited me away?” Emet-Selch regarded her a moment, a rueful smile playing upon his dark lips. “They do keep you on a tight leash, don’t they, hero.” “I have the auracite,” she said softly. “Whether that is a comfort to you I could not say, but they can do you no permanent ill without it.” “And you are committed, then, to our allyship?” “If that is what you are content to call this,” Caelina told him.

He lifted his hand from his side, index finger drawn upward, the other digits curled at rest. It was a gesture she had seen half a hundred times in dreams, but the gentle touch that should have followed never came. Caelina examined the yearning in her breast, and found it was not all inherited.

Stars pricked the horizon in the east, and Caelina stared at them rather than dare regard the man beside her. “You know,” she said after a moment, “I think this is the first moment of calm you haven’t needed to fill with words today. Are you so afraid of silence?” His answer was the sound of insects and night birds upon the air. At length, he said, “Yes. But I kept my tongue yesterday.” “I noticed,” she said. “It seemed like you were trying to make up for lost time after that.” “Perhaps I am,” Emet-Selch murmured. His tone was subdued, and when she turned to regard him, his expression was distant. “Yesterday was the anniversary of Aquila’s death.” Caelina’s brow knitted. “What day is it today, then?” “Ante diem quartum Nonas Septembris,” he replied. It was strangely comforting to hear the date given in Garlean—perhaps because it was only Nero who still bothered to count by that calendar. She blinked, coming to a realization: “It’s my nameday,” she said. “I know,” he said. “I suppose I was waiting for your friends to notice.” “I think they’ve grown too accustomed to the elven calendar here.” Caelina lifted her shoulders. “Besides, I’m in poor practice asking for gifts.” “I will grant you one anyway,” Emet-Selch said, “if you will but sit out under the stars with me.” Caelina tilted her head. “Very well,” she replied. “What did you have in mind?” “Merely a story,” he said. “Yours by right.”

She nodded once, though her mind was elsewhere a moment. Her throat bobbed with the effort of swallowing, and she turned toward him. “I am happy to listen,” she said. “But first I would have something better done in silence.” Those gold eyes fixed upon her, one delicate brow arched upward in prompting. “Oh?” he said. Caelina lifted her chin, though it never came down in the nod he might have expected. Instead she lingered there, leaning upward, their breath commingling in the cooling air. Then she pressed her lips to his, and found them warm and pliant. Something tingled against her skin as they kissed, and Emet-Selch put his arms around her, his gloved hands coming to the small of her back.

A servant came to the door to greet him a moment later, and his face went pale, bowing deeply. “Your Radiance,” he said. “Forgive me, we were not expecting an Imperial visitation and are quite unready—” Solus waved him off, wafting his hand airily. “Spare me your apologies,” he said, almost annoyed. “I wish to speak with Lady Aquila.” “Yes! Of course!” The servant all but stumbled over himself in his eagerness to please. “Please do come in,” he added after a moment. His nervousness showed all the way down to his very soul, which nearly jittered out of his flesh. Solus inclined his head in the barest fraction of a nod, and stepped into the grand foyer. He allowed himself to be led through the house, his boot heels echoing on the parquet, until the servant bowed once more and ushered him into a drawing room. The hearth was cold, but Solus draped himself across one of the chairs nearest it in any case. “I will inform my lady that you await her here,” the servant said. Solus barely deigned to acknowledge that with a nod. Then he said, “I will speak to no one else on this visit, so inform them at your peril.” “Of course, Your Radiance,” he said. Then he was gone.

Tempting though it was to watch him go, Solus kept his gaze fixed upon the material world, inspecting at leisure the delicate patterns of the floor; the rug underfoot. The wainscoting was elaborately sculpted, as was the grand mantle that surrounded the inert hearth. But perhaps the more captivating detail in the room was the ceiling. Molding and trays decorated the edges, but a large round inset was painted to resemble brilliant day; perfect blue and luminous clouds. He had hated the sky for so long—a hundred lifetimes or more—because even its very color reminded him of all he had lost.

Until he saw it on her.

Approaching footsteps stirred him from his reverie, and he stood, packing away his diffidence for just a moment. His golden eyes watched the door expectantly, and although he kept his gaze anchored to this world he could not help but see her, the color of cloudless infinities, the only color in the world that he loved.

He bowed to her, deeply, the way that one might bow to him; his magitek brace whined softly against his skin as he rose. Her expression was surprised, lids fluttering over eyes of that selfsame blue. Perhaps she had not believed her servant when he had told her that the Emperor awaited her; hers was a skeptical mind. She bowed to him in turn, and her unbound hair—the same silver color that streaked his own—tumbled over her shoulders.

“Your Radiance,” she said. “To what do I owe the pleasure? Is something the matter?” Every bit of his unbroken soul cried out to answer yes, but instead he simply shook his head, extending a gloved hand to her. She placed her own in it, and he bent his head to kiss her knuckles. “I wished to speak with you, little more.” She laughed. “And that was so urgent that you could not send word to me?” the woman who called herself Aquila asked him. There was no real scolding in her tone. “I am showing incredible self-restraint as it is,” Solus said. “I understand your house is not ready for me, and neither are you. Would you walk with me instead?” “The gardens are in bloom,” she said. He smiled, gently shepherding her hand to his arm. “Show them to me.”

Like most gardens in Garlemald, the Novius collection grew under glass. It was pleasantly warm in the evening air, the lingering heat of the strengthening sunlight still warm upon the stones underfoot. Here and there he could pick out Halmarult’s concepts, plants more ancient than any in this fractured world could know. How odd it was to see plants that had once towered like the spires of Amaurot diminished so far that they were no more than an ornamental border, easily mistaken for grass. How like them was everything else in this world, though this place had come almost halfway into its full once more.

“So then,” Aquila said. “May I inquire again, Your Radiance, as to what moved you to call upon me with such haste?” Solus smiled. “I am merely employing the same strategy that has served me so well in the Garlean army,” he said. “When an opportunity presents itself, be ready and take action.” She laughed. “Am I then little more than your next conquest?” “No,” he said. “When I spoke of my self-restraint earlier, what I meant was this: it was very hard, when I resolved to come here, not to come with bread and candle in hand.” She stopped short, regarding him with confusion. “This is all very sudden,” she said. Solus shook his head. “Not for me,” he said. “You have questions, I know. I wish to answer them all, but I need first some assurance that such things as I reveal to you remain with you alone.” “I have been, I hope, your staunchest ally; your closest collaborator. Our work on the magitek reforms would prove that, I should think.” Solus nodded.