#freespiritedstarling

The Age of Ascension, she’d heard a lecture or two about what she assumed that related to. One diminished Titan’s droning voice made her skin rise at the memory. She shook it off, focusing on Nero’s voice to drown out unwanted thoughts.

The Second War of Light? Tarnished?

“Do you mean the Fearling War? What happened? To cause that… and for it to be so… Why did it happen?”

There was an apparent shift in her voice and posture. The sudden need to understand ‘why’ any of that had ever happened, the unanswered question that haunted her every breathing moment.

Her chest tightened and she willed her breathing into even breaths. The poignant, twisted memories coiled around in anxiety at even the slightest thought.

“No one ever answers clearly enough for me to believe them. It’s like looking at a picture that looks whole… but when closer inspected you can tell the are pieces that aren’t the original creators. And yet everyone says the same thing, the same story, how would you tell it?“

Her demeanor was laced with anger and frustration, eyes reflecting a steel edge. The air about them growing with tension of a storm. Not directed at him, no, but an ire of a deep unhealed wound from a child that was just as tarnished and decayed as the age he spoke of.

Fearling War... yes, they had named it that, hadn’t they, the blind fools that they were. Unable to tell the difference between the Abyss and corruption. Between darkness as lack of light and shadows cast by it, from it.

“When terrestrials are left to fend for themselves, they have the freedom to decide what - or whom - they wish to follow. They won’t all agree on that. Not a very big deal, until one side decides the other must be evil for having chosen to believe differently.”

“Where the first outbursts of those things - fearlings - came, I do not know. They are a shadow cast by a light grown too bright: drawn to it, consuming it and only it. To them, those not of the Light might as well not exist, unless we interfere with them directly.”

“Some children of Light saw this as an indication that they are of the Abyss as we are. Those who had chosen to venerate my kind over the celestials that had abandoned them were deemed misguided, deceived, corrupt or criminals. They fought back. The spreading conflicts attracted the Shadows, and the rest, as they say, is history.”

It was more complicated than that, of course - the slow campaign Deceiver had wrought to seed worship of singularities since the end of the Age of Ascension. The Crusades seeking to cull frozen stars that prompted them to look away or lean on loopholes left in wordings of Treaties when the Shadows did rise. The witch-hunts and inquisitions, the desperate search for something to blame for what no one could explain.

Seraphina beamed, sharing in Hevel’s revelation.

“You know... I could help you with that. If you would like a prototype project to work on.”

“A prototype project? Do you... have such a thing underway?” As far as the young dæ knew, their friend was not a shipwright, nor even a craftsman of any kind. Perhaps... an idea then? A wish for a vessel of a type yes nonexistent?

Silence, attentive listening. Fingers tapped her chin in thought. “Life is in both the Light and the Void? All life has a right to grow… exist. Is it not in the natures of each to do this then?”

“Imagine, if you will, a forest. Its plants and beasts. Imagine that forest replaced with a garden. Imagine the beasts of the forest returning to their home, now made into that garden, to feed. What are they to those that made the garden?”

Being summoned back to the capital for the political charades of the elections was a significant inconvenience. Lady Seraphina Pitchiner would of much preferred to have been left to her deep space explorations of the Star Pilots than be brought back to represent the Pitchiner house. In the political ongoing’s it held no significance, except a smudgy reminder of the Council’s folly with the Golden General. Ever since the tragedy tied to her family’s name her presence here was meant to absorb the pity of Empire. And it angered her. For what appeasement did it bring? What did it fix? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. After hours of waiting for the perfect moment to ditch the entourage that surrounded the Tsar and Tsarina, with whom she attended these events, she was able to breathe a sigh of relief. It was not the first time she had slipped away, and she didn’t intend for it to be the last while these arduous elections took place. Seraphina took to Luminous Garden, a verdant labyrinth not far from the Senate House. Even if anyone looked there for her, she was not easily found. Mark her surprise however when crossing paths with an individual she’d only ever seen at a distance and heard rumors of. “My Lord.” She curtsied, her greeting in proper etiquette for the station of her name. “They are not far, I but wanted a respite and a moment away from the officiates.”   @lorddevourer

The practised, inane theatrics of these so-called constellans were as dull as ever. For all their supposed scheming and manoeuvring, none of them had the courage to truly commit to political subterfuge and seek alliance with an unbound, ancient power - something that could prove oh-so-entertaining should it ever happen, and thus remained the sole reason why Nero bothered heeding the old accords that allowed for a Herald of his kin.

A pity they were all cowards. It was doubtful the fools even knew who he truly was, thinking him a mere envoy, a warning and a spy, placed out in the open. A trap, perhaps.

That being the case, encountering the court’s other source of averted eyes and awkward silences was very much a treat.

from here with @freespiritedstarling​

She gave a nod and gestured with her hand that he may enter. Notable about her evening attire was that she wore a  short-sleeved shirt and pants of simple make and fabric. A keen eye would catch thin discolorations on her arms. As the Lord entered the young Lady pulled one of her lone sleeved coats down from a peg behind the door, and slipped it on. Certainly in this society, she was at least more presentable than a moment ago in her lounge clothes.

The entry-way was lit in a warm glow of light, crafted from rich dark wood. While the outside looked rather common, the inside certainly alluded to having been refurbished. Not gaudy or gilded like some nobility, but aesthetically pleasing with some good architecture and design to it.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit Lord Nero?“ she asked as she led him down the hall, past a closed door on the right with a brass handle and lock on it. On the left was a staircase that went up to the second floor and further down was a room that opened to a sitting area, a door toward the back likely leading to a kitchen.

The parlor room was nicely decorated to present a good picture for guests, a statement. The couch and chairs upholstered in deep wine with a wood to compliment, the tables and rug complimenting them and the cushions. Not exactly what one might imagine being the Lady Pitchiner’s preferred style, it was there, not seemingly very used. The walls were decorated with the first part that did seem more unique, old maps of the heavens, with constellations that were long extinct. A bookshelf that had books of common history titles, politics, sonnets and poets. Again though, these books were not current titles, but ones dating back in time.

At the back of the room was a rather fine cabinet, complimenting the other furniture, about four bottles inside, the rest empty. A crystal decanter with a dark liquid sat atop with glasses, both covered in dust.

While this was room to entertain guests, it did not seem to have much use.

The parlour had a distinct air of... abandonment. Of being part of the house out of some formality at best, not meant to play host to more than long-dead history. A pleasant atmosphere for the singularity—walls adorned with charts of a sky he felt more familiarity toward than the current one, names and regions fallen obsolete in the most recent war of light or long before. Books with titles of familiar-shaped words—poetry from times he’d walked among terrestrials unimpeded and names of philosophers he’d debated.

A wistful yearning for the true Golden Age, when the hand of the Deceiver had uplifted her people and some enclaves welcomed visits from singularities with great feasts—and were granted goodwill and boons in return. When one knew where animosity would come from, and against whom. Crusades sever with vast backing, and always aiming for those who held the power instead of the ones who gave willing worship.

A fitting reflection of what the owner of the room yearned for, of how and where she’d been raised. A contrast, however, to what she’d claimed to wish from the future.

More reflective of her efforts in the council hall than of that.

Seraphina nodded in agreement, blue eyes dimmer in hue than normal. “I wish this very much too. But if they are drawn to that which is Light can you stop it at all? If Light exists then it too will, and the circle continues. I wonder if there is a way to bring a balance… the scales swing back and forth. A pendulum of Light and Dark… what if it could stop swinging?”

To stop the pendulum... the young dæ’s brow furrowed. Something seemed... dangerous in that. Like the only way to achieve it would be something very wrong. They held no fondness for shadows, but at the same time couldn’t deny that the brighter a light was, the starker its shade. And yet, to seek to diminish both...?

send “what do you desire?” for my muse to share their deepest desire/life goal

Seraphina’s face contorted into a grimace but nodded her head. “Partially… enough. Not full time because there is more than one way to bring about change. I still very much want to be a Star Pilot, there are things out there that could make an impact and I want to find them. Civilizations that live outside of the Empire, with their ways. Lost knowledge… technology… things that could make more change than just politics.”

She sighed, smiling softly. “I want to change the course of this universe… for the better Hevel. I know it sounds grandiose but… we shall see what happens. Surprisingly, with technology, I can safely handle some political business while away.”

“If anyone can do it, it is you.” The dæ nodded for emphasis. A search for new knowledge, things that could change the core of the Empire itself... they could not imagine what such a thing could be, but should anyone be capable of such a feat, it was Seraphina without a doubt.